- On Monday the government yesterday renewed its determination to crack down on anti-social behaviour by unveiling 40 "Respect" zones where councils will be given extra help to deal with families and individuals who make life miserable for others. The zones, ranging from Exeter to Newcastle upon Tyne, were selected using indices such as deprivation, high levels of anti-social behaviour, truancy and school exclusion levels. All of the areas, according to ministers, have a strong track record of achievement in tackling anti-social behaviour and its causes. The Guardian Home Office press release
- Targets have been set to reduce fear of crime, litter and irresponsible drinking in Basingstoke town centre. Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has drawn up a list of areas to tackle over the next five months as part of its night-time economy policy. The project was launched in 2005 with a widespread public consultation about how to make the town centre a safe and welcoming environment for all sections of the community at night. An action plan was implemented early last year, but in May, members of the council's economic and community development overview committee said targets needed to be set to measure the progress of the night-time economy project.
The targets include an 11 per cent reduction in violent incidents in the town centre by 2008, and reducing the average waiting time for a taxi from eight minutes to seven minutes by June 2007. This is Hampshire
- After around 310 people were caught drink driving every day during December, RoSPA said it was high time the Government agreed to cut the drink-drive limit to protect innocent road users from the menace of alcohol. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said the figures for the festive campaign carried out in England and Wales showed far too many people were ignoring the safety messages and putting themselves and others at risk.
Duncan Vernon, Road Safety Officer for RoSPA, said: "Reducing the drink-drive limit from 80mg to 50mg would save around 65 lives and 230 serious injuries on Britain's roads each year. Between 50mg and 80mg you are two to two-and-a-half times more likely to be involved in an accident and six times more likely to be in a fatal crash than with no alcohol in your system. "This reduction would give the opportunity for a new education campaign to point out the seriousness of drinking and driving, particularly addressing the worrying problem of the young drivers who apparently have not been getting the message.
"As a result of police action at Christmas and New Year more than 9,600 drivers will probably lose their licence and many of them may lose their job as well - even if they were lucky enough not to kill someone else as a result of their recklessness. EurOhs
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