A COMMUNITY policing scheme which protected vulnerable children and cracked down on antisocial behaviour is set to be rolled out across the borough.

Colchester police officers held their first Street Weeks event in October, which saw teams spend seven days intensely working in the Monkwick area.

Alongside other groups in the Safer Colchester Partnership, officers dealt with antisocial behaviour through more visible policing, while also tackling drug activity, domestic abuse and child neglect by carrying out door-to-door enquiries and spot checks.

The initiative was brought in by district commander for Colchester, Chief Inspector Shaun Kane.

Now the scheme has been praised by Chief Superintendent Ewen Wilson who is head of policing in North Essex.

Mr Wilson said: “We have had our first Street Weeks where we were testing out the concept and worked really hard with partner agencies and members of the community.

“It was really well received.

“It was so well received we are now committing to other Street Weeks all across the Colchester district.

“The real benefits we found were people knocking on doors - community members, police officers and police staff - and getting to know people.

“In doing so we identified some really vulnerable children.

“We were able to take steps to make sure we protected them and they got referred to the services they need.

“All in all, Street Weeks was entirely positive for me.”