30 October 2006

Shoppers, commuters and visitors to Guildford have safer parking – it’s official. The borough council has just been awarded the Safer Car Parking Award for Bedford Road car park bringing the total of car parks with the quality mark up to 12 - that's all the council's major car parks in the town centre as well as Artington park and ride.

Says Lead Councillor for Community Safety, Cllr Keith Taylor:

“We are proud that the high standard of our car parks has been recognised and rewarded. This latest award means all our major car parks now have the Safer Car Parking Award which is good news for the public".

During the inspection assessors were pleased to find levels of crime continue to be extremely low in the borough's car parks.

"The measures we have put in place have helped to improve the environment within our car parks even further resulting in enhanced personal safety for car park users.

"This is a great result for the council’s parking team which has worked hard to implement and maintain the initiatives required under the scheme," adds Cllr Taylor.

With the aim of detering and preventing crime, the Safer Car Parking Awards recognise the council's success in improving safety, security, maintenance and accessibility. This includes lighting CCTV, regular patrols, on-going redecoration and graffiti removal.

The award coincided with a Surrey Police campaign to crackdown on autocrime in the borough. The two-week 'Operation Galvanise' combined proactive and preventative activity to deter, disrupt and detect theft from motor vehicles. Police officers and parking attendants jointly patrolled in and around car parks and the town centre to offer motorists advice and to identify any vulnerable vehicles with valuables on display or that were left insecure. The registered owners of the vehicles were contacted and crime preventation advice was offered. 

These initiatives are part of Guildford Borough Council's commitment to improving residents’ local surroundings, by focusing on issues that matter most to them such as a cleaner, safer and greener environment.

Notes for Editors
The public are asked to play their part to tackle vehicle crime. Prevention tips include the following:

• Make sure vehicle doors are locked and windows and sunroof are shut, even if you are only going to be a couple of minutes.
• Remove portable satellite navigation systems completely from the vehicle. Do not leave them in the boot or glove compartment and make sure you remove the cradle that holds them and wipe away any suction marks on the windscreen or dashboard.
• Don’t leave anything on view in the car. Thieves are opportunists and it only takes them moments to break in.