Lazy hazy days of summer

Police officers in Northamptonshire are touring the streets with megaphones and have been instructed to go into unlocked properties and alert homeowners to the security risk of burglaries – even to the point of waking them up if they are asleep.

The police are also patrolling the streets by day with megaphones, shouting at homeowners to ensure they shut their windows and their properties are properly protected. The move is part of an initiative to crack down on summer burglaries, but many local residents are less than impressed.

Shirley Partridge, 75, said: "I don't want police officers coming into my house and bellowing at me with a megaphone telling me to lock my windows and doors." The astute resident added: "Surely all of the criminals round here will just hear the police coming and hide until they have gone."

Officers are patrolling residential streets in Northampton bellowing: "This is the police, shut your windows and lock your doors, don't let burglars in."

The police in Northampton claim the average cost of a burglary to the force is around £3,300 – a statistic that could be open to scrutiny, some think. Inspector Mike Grady of the Northamptonshire force said officers would only enter properties in "obvious" cases where doors are left ajar and that anyone who was asleep would be woken up.

We are sure all in Northampton will be keeping their fingers crossed that the long range forecasts of a long hot summer are wrong. If it is as hot as the forecasters suggest, it could be a very noisy county to visit.

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