Businesses on an industrial estate who have suffered £183,000 of thefts and vandalism this year alone are getting tough on crime.
The Burnt Mills Industrial Watch scheme will be launched tomorrow by Supt Denis Sheppard of Basildon Police.
As part of the scheme, businesses will fund a team of security officers who will patrol the site with Rottweilers overnight and at weekends.
Similar schemes have resulted in a more pleasant environment, as the random patrols are a deterrent to fly-tippers and graffiti artists.
David Cottis, of BSG Builders Merchants, is chairman of the new Burnt Mills Industrial Watch.
BSG Builders has another unit at Purdeys Industrial Estate in Rochford where a watch scheme significantly reduced crime.
Louis James Security of Hockley, which co-ordinated the Rochford scheme, has been drafted in for the new Basildon one.
Mr Cottis said: "Crime dropped quite considerably in Rochford and we hope to repeat it with this one."
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