City safety under review as part of consultation

People have been asked how safe they feel in Doncaster city centre as part of a consultation launched by the council and police.

A recent survey found more than half of people who live and work in the city felt unsafe because of issues such as begging and anti-social behaviour.

The council said people would now be asked to share their experiences of crime and other issues that were having an impact on their lives.

Councillor Glyn Jones, deputy mayor and cabinet member for safer communities, said the results would "help us decide what we ought to prioritise in the future and how to best use our collective resources to improve safety for our city".

Jones said "significant headway" had already been made on improving safety, including through more council patrols, new CCTV and an increased police presence.

Ch Supt Pete Thorp from South Yorkshire Police said the Safer Stronger Doncaster Partnership (SSDP) was seeing "real change and improvements".

He said instances of the "most serious violence across the borough" had reduced by 25%.

Mr Thorp said: "But it is important that we don't just rely on our assumptions or data to tell us if things are improving or not."

"This consultation will allow us to effectively respond to residents' concerns and ultimately, we hope that this will result in residents feeling and seeing positive change."

The consultation runs until 6 July and a series of events to discuss the results will be announced following its conclusion.

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