NEW litter bins featuring crime prevention messages have been unveiled in Halesworth. The bins are the idea of the local crime prevention panel and members attended the unveiling ceremony held in the town's Arboretum.

NEW litter bins featuring crime prevention messages have been unveiled in Halesworth.

The bins are the idea of the local crime prevention panel and members attended the unveiling ceremony held in the town's Arboretum.

The panel, including 14-year-old James Clark who is using his membership as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, hope the new bins will help deal with problems of litter and petty vandalism that have occurred in the Halesworth area recently.

Alan Holzer, who is a member of Halesworth Town Council as well as the crime prevention panel, said: "We felt that if we could get new bins, keep an eye on the place and keep it tidy, then at least it would show we're trying to be pro-active to stop the problems and clean the area up."

Mr Holzer said it was hoped that the crime reduction messages on the bins would be of help to the residents and visitors using the bins.

Suffolk police crime reduction officer Steve Barrett said it was important to tackle anti-social behaviour and litter problems.

"We want to make communities in Suffolk even better places to live.

"Research has shown that anti-social behaviour and love-level crime, such as criminal damage can affect the perception of how safe an area is and that relatively small measures like this can have an impact."

Litter bins with anti-crime messages will be placed in towns and villages throughout north Suffolk in the coming months.

A public meeting will be held in Halesworth on Thursday, August 28, at 7pm at the Rifle Hall in London Road to address issues including anti-social behaviour, litter problems and general security in the Halesworth area.