Bells ring to beat thieves (From The Oxford Times)

Bells ring to beat thieves

11:50am Thursday 3rd May 2012 in Bicester By Sam McGregor, covering Bicester. Call me on 01869 250197

People in Bicester will be jingling all the way up the high street and warning off potential thieves.

Police handed out hundreds of cat bells and lanyards for people to attach to purses and handbags as part of a preventative campaign to stop purse and bag thefts.

Officers teamed up with local organisations including Bicester Rotary, the town’s round table, Bicester Town Council and Highfield Social Club, which jointly funded the initiative to the tune of £1,000.

Pc Vicky Lees said: “We get pockets of purse thefts and the victims never see the offender and never get a description.

“What we want to try to do is prevent it because it’s such a difficult crime to police.

“We gave out over 400 cat bells and lanyards for purses on the day and the donators and members of the Neighbourhood Action Group kindly turned up to help.

“These included Oxfordshire Fire Service officer Steve Briggs, David Gebbles from the Highfield Club, Liz Yardley from the rotary club, Jill Green from Bromford Housing and councillor Lawrie Stratford.”

Police issued other tips to deter thieves, including wearing bags across the body, keeping bags zipped shut and always covering your pin number when using a bank card.