BURGLARIES throughout Trafford are down and continuing to fall according to police chiefs.

And they say it is down in no small part to the dedicated burglary response teams in both the north and south of the borough.

The first team was set up in north Trafford back in 1997 in a bid to address the rising number of incidents in the area.

That has proved so successful that south Trafford now has its own team and together they have combined to reduce burglaries by almost a fifth.

The two teams are designed to increase awareness among homeowners to help them avoid becoming repeat victims.

The two bobbies on each unit visit victims and work with other groups to offer support and advice.

This has proved to have a marked effect with fewer people being targeted again since the teams were set up.

Crime reduction adviser for north Trafford, PC Paul Berry tells SAM: "When the crime and disorder reduction targets were set in 1998-99, burglary in private houses was a real problem and a target of 15 per cent was set.

"Thanks to these dedicated teams, there has been a reduction of more than 18 per cent across Trafford and that good work has not gone unnoticed.

"Now bobbies from other areas in Manchester are looking to us for advice on setting up their own teams to combat burglary in their division."

PC's Peter Bauer and David Richardson staff the team in Stretford while in the south, PC's Russ Arpino and Phil Rassmussen run it.

Both units are continuing to push the scheme forward to achieve an even greater reduction in the future.

PC Berry adds: "After being initially set up as a pilot scheme, the burglary response teams have gone from strength to strength.

"It doesn't end there though and the work will be continuing to drive down crime even further."

For more information on either burglary response team, call one of the crime reduction advisers in north Trafford, PC Paul Berry or Mark Aspin on 856-7746, or in south Trafford, PC Tony Crompton on 856-7546.