NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH AND SES MARK 10 YEARS OF SAFE PLATES

THE Torquay Jan Juc Neighbourhood Watch and Torquay SES groups celebrated 10 years of working together earlier this month. This partnership held its first “Safe Plate Day” at the Torquay Football grounds in May 2009 to fit anti-theft screws to vehicle number plates to prevent opportunistic thieves stealing them to carry out other crime related incidents such as home burglaries. “Vehicle numbers were small to start with, but have built to as high as 130 vehicles fitted with the one-way screws and average about 100 per event,” Torquay Jan Juc NHW co-ordinator David Cheatley said. The November 3 Safe Plate Day drew 98 vehicle owners to Bunnings Torquay. SES Leader Mick Belton said the SES enjoyed working with NHW in assisting local police drive down crime in the area. About 1,500 vehicles have had their plates secured since 2009.