'Inspect troubles for yourselves' (From Warrington Guardian)

'Inspect troubles for yourselves'

A former Royal Navy commander exasperated by vandals trashing his street has invited a police inspector to his house.

Robin Raphael said he hoped the meeting with Inspector Nigel Bailey would prove that extra officers were desperately needed in Ascol Drive, Plumley.

"If you just sit back then nothing gets done," he said. "At least this way we can meet face-to-face and I can tell him exactly what has been going on." Mr Raphael has threatened to form a vigilante group to stop troublesome youths riding scramble bikes in secluded woodland near his home and vandalising cars and houses.

He claimed he had reported incidents of vandalism to the police but had not seen an officer in the area.

Last week he contacted Inspector Bailey and Tatton MP George Osborne urging them to visit the area to inspect the damage.

"In the Plumley area alone in the past few months an empty barn has been burned down, a sewage plant has been severely damaged by vandals, several cars have been broken into and burglaries are rife," he wrote in a letter to both men.

"Additionally, the local woodland is littered with dumped rubbish and woodland paths are being badly damaged by scramble bikes." Mr Raphael, who works from home as a nautical surveyor, is considering refusing to pay the police precept of his council tax until village patrols are increased.

He plans to meet both men on June 25.

"Despite the known level of theft and vandalism in the area there is little or no police presence or reaction," he claimed.

"Indeed the feeling is that Cheshire only has two policemen, one of whom is probably sick and the other is on a training course."

ssmith@guardiangrp.co.uk