Shop radios combat island crime

Around 50 shopkeepers have signed up to the radio scheme

Walkie-talkie radios are being used by shop owners to combat street violence and thefts in towns on Anglesey.

Shopkeepers across the island who witness a crime will be able to contact CCTV operators and other businesses by using hand-held radio systems.

The Shopwatch scheme was launched in Llangefni last year and in Holyhead during the summer.

In the new year three more towns - Amlwch, Beaumaris and Menai Bridge - will also get the radio equipment.

The radios provide a direct link between the shop owners, the CCTV control centre at Anglesey Council headquarters in Llangefni, and the police.

Businesses can rent the radios for £5 a month and around 50 shops in both Llangefni and Holyhead have already signed up.

Anglesey Council Community Safety Officer Tony Wyn Jones said: "If there are any problems with thefts or an anti-social rumpus the shopkeepers can call the CCTV centre.

There will be nowhere for criminals to hide. Tony Wyn Jones

"It also allows them to bulletin other shops simultaneously so that everyone is watching and sharing information on criminal activity.

"There will be nowhere for criminals to hide."

Although the radio scheme was set up to deter and catch shoplifters, it is also increasingly being used to combat anti-social behaviour.

"For anti-social behaviour, Holyhead, Llangefni and Amlwch are the worst on the island," said Mr Jones.

Since the system was introduced in Llangefni and Holyhead, there has been a drop in thefts.

"There have been many very successes. A thief who ran out of a shop in Holyhead High Street was apprehended three blocks away by two other shopkeepers.

"And a group of criminals giving out forged notes had their car number plate taken down so that people knew who they were."

"There are thriving markets in Llangefni and Holyhead and they are interested (in the scheme) also and we are thinking of giving them to libraries and car park attendants."

The council's health and safety communities portfolio holder Rhian Medi, from Llangefni, said: "There are problems in this town but the scheme makes people feel safer."