PEOPLE have been urged to join the fight against crime by simply being good neighbours.
Under a new scheme, doorstep tricksters will not be able talk their way into the homes of elderly or vulnerable people.
Under the Nominated Neighbour Scheme, people will have the name of a neighbour who will find out what the caller wants.
People in the scheme simply hold up a card to the window which the caller can read.
It will have the name and address of a neighbour and the caller must go there and tell the neighbour the reason for the visit.
If the neighbour is happy with the explanation, both will return to the elderly person's home.
A police spokesman said some criminals impersonated other people to commit despicable crimes, preying on vulnerable people.
He said the crooks made bogus claims over work that supposedly needed doing to a property.
Or they may use a distraction to get into homes.
He added that the Nominated Neighbour scheme would, hopefully, deal with such crimes and stop possible doorstep confrontations between criminals and people less confident in dealing with callers.
Nominated Neighbour cards are available from Neighbourhood Watch officers based at main police stations.
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