The radio scheme that keeps the Fossetts Park retail park, SUFC, the Wellesley Hospital and the local NPT in touch was launched on March 18, 2008. It has proved so successful that Cecil Jones College has now signed up to the scheme.

The Fossetts Park Business Watch Partnership (FPBWP) links all businesses in the retail park and surrounding areas with a radio system that allows them to advise each other of incidents taking place and suspicious people on the site. By working together, they have already seen some great successes.

PCSO Jackie Jones explained: “A good recent example was in early June when a man and a woman were seen by Comet staff to be removing tags from some goods and the store requested our attendance over the FPBWP radio. While we made our own way over the road from our Temple Sutton office, I was able to immediately relay the information to the police control room via the police radio in order for officers to be deployed quickly to the scene.

“On our arrival, the pair were leaving the store and I was able to detain the woman while a colleague chased the man. Both were subsequently arrested. Meanwhile, B&Q’s security staff had heard of the incident and had recorded the chase on their CCTV system. The footage that the camera recorded provided vital evidence of a weapon being discarded by the fleeing thief. He has since received 6 months’ imprisonment for possessing a knife”.

An extra radio has now been supplied to Shoebury Police Station, ensuring that even when the Southchurch NPT are unavailable, the radio can be monitored 24 hours each day.

The FPBWP has also now embraced the 'Behave or Be Banned' (BOBB) scheme, more usually associated with pubs and clubs. This means that those who cause trouble in the area can be banned from all the stores and the details will be shared with Essex Police.

Neighbourhood Watch Administrator Mick Holland said: “Fossetts Park will soon become a no-go area for thieves as we further increase the tools we have available to deter crime and disorder in the area. This is an excellent example of co-operation between the partners and the local NPT – something other retail parks should emulate”.