Preston villages prompted to set up neighbourhood watch after suspicious activity in the early hours

Whittingham parish councillor Michelle Woodburn says that cars and bikes have been spotted acting suspiciously in the area – with some people reporting thefts of their own cycles from sheds and garages.

Social media posts suggest that similar incidents have occurred in Broughton and Barton.

“They’re just opportunists – it’s despicable,” said Cllr Woodburn.

“They’re crawling up the streets slowly and having a look at what’s on people’s property, even getting out of their cars to take a closer look.

“People are not supposed to be travelling around at that time of night in these circumstances. The police have got the powers when they do catch them to ask what they are doing round here and fine them,” she said, praising the Lancashire force for attending several reports of suspicious activity in recent weeks.

In one incident in the early hours of Wednesday morning, a resident on Churchgate in Goosnargh chased a man off his property – but the stranger had left the area by the time officers arrived.

Whittingham and Goosnargh are now planning to re-establish a neighbourhood watch group for the two villages. But that process is made more complicated by the fact that members will not be able to meet in person because of lockdown rules.

Cllr Woodburn is appealing for volunteer co-ordinators in different groups of streets to ensure that the scheme has maximum impact.

“If these people know they are being watched, it might just deter them. People can hear things late at night – sometimes they have their windows open or they might just be lying awake.

“The residents are brilliant – they put everything that happens on Facebook and it gets spread around, but it’s about trying to stop these incidents happening in the first place.

“People work hard for what they have and for someone to just come along and take it and sell it for a few quid is deplorable – especially if it’s children’s bikes, because people are taking their kids out on them at the moment just to get a bit of exercise.”

Lancashire Police confirmed their attendance at the Churchgate incident in Goosnargh earlier this week. The Preston neighbourhood policing team was approached for further comment about residents’ concerns.