Teams of officers from Ealing Council and the police went out recently to check the streets for fly-tipping, parking offences and much more.
They were accompanied for night-time patrols by council leader Peter Mason and deputy leader Deirdre Costigan.
Councillor Costigan, who is also the council’s cabinet member for climate action, said: “The borough has a vibrant, and growing, night-time economy, which is great for local jobs but can sometimes also bring with it an increase in anti-social behaviour. This can include reports of street drinking, fly-tipping rubbish on the streets, illegal car parking, rough sleepers needing help, and drug dealing.
“Night-time enforcement patrols are carried out to make it clear that anti-social behaviour is not acceptable at any time – and that enforcement does not end when the sun stops shining. Rule-breaking continues to be reported to the council at night, especially around parking and street drinking.
“After a busy night in Southall, we will be running more night-time enforcement activities in the coming year across the borough’s seven towns.”
On Thursday, 8 December, the enforcement teams and police had teamed up for patrols in Southall Broadway to tackle ongoing issues there.
Beginning in South Road and working up The Broadway, 60 penalty charge notices (PCNs) were issued for various offences including parking on double yellow lines and parking on the pavement.
Kingdom Enforcement officers investigated 22 incidents of fly-tipping and issued 13 fixed penalty notices for littering offences, including spitting.
Parkguard and safer communities officers conducted high visibility patrols in parks, open spaces and housing estates. They issued two FPNs in Southall Recreation Ground for breaches of the public space protection order (PSPO), three verbal warnings were made to individuals found smoking cannabis on the estate, and one rough sleeper was referred for urgent help for warm clothing. Officers also completed a welfare check on a vulnerable resident who was formerly a victim of ‘cuckooing’. Cuckooing is a crime where a criminal, or criminal gangs, exploit vulnerable people. The most common form of cuckooing is where drug dealers take control of the victim’s home and use it for drug dealing – often as part of networks.
The police carried out four stop-and-searches, issued one charge for possession of cannabis, issued one penalty notice for disorder (PND) for possession of cannabis, and carried out three interviews and cautions for cannabis and possession of offensive weapons.
