A NEW initiative has been launched to help to keep Skipton businesses safer from criminals.

The Business Crime Reduction Partnership has seen the town's ShopWatch, pubs network STAND, the Town Partnership and the police join forces to reduce thefts from shops and tackle other anti-social behaviour.

The use of radios by shops and pubs to warn others of potential troublemakers has been developed in the town before.

But the new Skipton scheme, under the auspices of the Business Crime Reduction Partnership, is to make available, for a small monthly fee, the latest digital radios to all members, plus access to a secure internet-based database of offender details.

Businesses will be able to check on and identify people acting suspiciously as well as report incidents.

Launching the scheme at the town's Swadford Centre, Susan Trinder, of Skipton Town Partnership, said the scheme was a great way for all of Skipton's businesses to keep an eye out for troublemakers and alert others of their presence.

She said: "This is a chance to develop a network where all businesses can look out for each other and therefore reduce crime and anti-social behaviour across the town. Sharing information is the key to the success of the scheme."

Business Crime Reduction Partnerships already operate in in towns and cities across the country, and there are information-sharing networks linking neighbouring partnerships.

Organised criminal gangs, some of them specialising in particular shops like jewellers, are known to be targetting towns like Skipton and Keighley, say police.

Beat manager for Skipton, Sgt Paul Evans, said that an equivalent scheme in Chester had worked tremendously well and that he was confident it would work in Skipton too.

"This is all about working together and sharing information. Criminals are travelling around to commit crimes more than ever before but we can do our best to keep them out of our area. The crime rate in Skipton is low, but we must work hard to keep it that way. I have seen how the scheme works in Chester and it can work here too."

Businesses wishing to join the partnership or to get more information should contact Susan Trinder on 01756 799033 or email bcrp@welcometoskipton.com