AGM Report

The Neighbourhood Watch AGM was held on 21 February with 18 members present and items from the discussion included:

There was a review of the Open Evening held in October 2017 for new Residents to the village and hosted by the Watch and the Community Council. It was felt that the evening had been successful and residents had been recruited to be co-ordinators for the new and growing areas of the village. With the increasing size of the village it was noted that the Community Council were proposing to erect notice boards in the new estates. The Watch was encouraged to use them to seek additional co-ordinators and provide information to residents.

The process of erecting Neighbourhood Watch signs in both The Grange and St Lythans Park estates had commenced. It involves completing documentation to obtain approval from the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

We received reports on the following issues which were followed up where possible:

• Flooding at the entrance to St Lythans Park.

• Use of footpaths by horse riders and a particular incident when the Glamorgan Hunt was the perpetrator.

• All day parking in Brooklands Terrace by non-residents and subsequent litter problems.

• Vandalism of a new wall at Cambrian Park.

 

Warning of a scam

The Safer Vale Partnership has made us aware of a group of scams in the Vale of Glamorgan and Cardiff. A typical example is:

The victim was telephoned at 9.00am on a Monday morning at the end of February by a male who said he was Detective Inspector Collins, force number BE1263, from the Metropolitan Police and that her Lloyds bank account had been compromised. She was told that if she wished to confirm his identity she should ring 161, which she did. Another male answered giving his ID as Detective Inspector Martins.

They told her that they needed her to withdraw £8300 from her account which they would then arrange to be collected from her address. The victim went to her bank at lunchtime and withdrew the money telling the cashier it was for house alterations.

A courier attended and collected the money at 2.00pm. He did not give a receipt and the victim has not heard from Police Officers since.

In other cases victims were told their cards had been cloned, they had been subject to fraud or a family member had been arrested. In all cases the caller claimed to be a detective and was very convincing. South Wales Police say that these scammers are extremely persuasive, use elaborate stories and can target anyone not just the elderly.

The Police ask everyone to be on their guard and to warn family members, especially those more

vulnerable.

Residents should be aware of such an approach and contact the Police via 101, or Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, if it occurs.

Alan French