HUNDREDS of thousands of pounds will be spent on tackling burglaries in the Bewsey and Whitecross area.

Cheshire police and crime commissioner David Keane has secured £550,000 of funding from the government for a project aiming to reduce the number of burglaries in the ward – which also covers the town centre, Dallam and Sankey Bridges.

This grant will be spent on individual security assessment for every property and improvements where required.

Lighting will be increased and CCTV installed, with Neighbourhood Watch schemes introduced on every street.

The money will also see the rollout of Cheshire Police’s Operation Shield in the area, a DNA property marking project which has reduced burglaries by up to 83 per cent in other parts of the county.

Mr Keane said: “I am delighted to have secured this funding to make Bewsey and Whitecross safer for all its residents.

“Acquisitive offences are the crimes that the public are most likely to encounter.

“Not only do they blight our communities, they also make residents fearful in their own homes.

“This funding will allow us to work even more closely with our community safety partners to ensure there is a real focus on community policing in the area and tactics that either remove opportunities to commit these crimes or act as a deterrent by increasing the chances of an offender being caught.”

The money has come from the government’s Safer Street Fund, with 35 PCCs across the country set to receive shares of a £25million.

Bewsey and Whitecross was selected to receive Cheshire’s funding as it ‘provided the greatest opportunity to invest and realise benefit for the community’.

Chief superintendent Martin Cleworth added: “This is fantastic news and we can’t wait to get started as soon as possible to help improve the local community and make a real difference.

“Burglary is a serious offence in which victims are targeted in their own home, which is ultimately the place you should be able to feel most safe.

“This funding will provide a great opportunity for officers to work with partners to reduce crime and overall improve community safety in Bewsey.”

Warrington South MP Andy Carter said: "This Government was elected on the promise to crack down on crime and make our streets safer and the £550,000 announced today for Cheshire will go some way to helping deliver that.

“This new money will help fund proven crime cutting measures, such as increased street lighting, CCTV and locked gates around alleyways – and I am confident from results in Lymm, which has a new village CCTV system, that these types of measures are effective and help reduce crimes such as burglary and robbery in areas that need it the most.

“I want people in Warrington South to feel secure in their communities and be able to live their lives free from the threat of crime and this extra funding for Cheshire will help make that possible.

"Residents will also be reassured that the Government's promise to recruit more police officers is now well under way in Cheshire.”