Police

To contact the police in an emergency, dial 999.
For less urgent contact, dial 101.

We have two Police Community Support Officers on the Taunton Urban and Rural neighbourhood Policing Team (AW044): Steve Chapman and Tony Wearmouth. They can be reached directly via email: (Steve, Tony). The 101 number is the best one to call except in emergencies. The operator will normally be able to put you through to whoever is on duty in our area.

The only police issues that habitually affect the village are theft, particularly though not always from outhouses and sheds, and dangerous driving. Anyone spotting any suspicious behaviour is encourage to get in touch with Jake. This page on the Avon & Somerset Constabulary website gives more information on our area.

Farm tractors are far bigger than they used to be, which can make them a threatening presence on the small lanes we have to share with them. Most farmers respect this and we appreciate their consideration, but the Parish council still receives a lot of complaints from car drivers or pedestrians who feel intimidated when tractors drive too fast or do not slow down to pass. Anyone should feel free to report such incidents to the police. Such reports are more effective if accompanied by the registration number of the vehicle involved.

Neighbourhood Watch

There are several watch schemes in the village, administered from Bridgwater by Lindsey Stone the Watch Scheme Administrator for the Police. Each scheme has co-ordinator and a number of member households, usually somewhere between 10-20 households. The Police will forward information of crime, trends, advice etc by email or telephone (landline), and the co-ordinator is then expected to pass the message on either the same way or by putting a note through people’s doors. The idea is to keep people informed if there is any heightened threat of crime locally, though without wishing to tempt providence, it should be added that there has been very little activity reported recently.

If you would like to know more about Neighbourhood Watch, or to form or join a scheme, contact Lindsey Stone. More information may be found on this poster.

Police and Crime Commissioner

Since November 2012, there has been an elected Police and Crime Commissioner in each police area, to provide civilian oversight of Police operations in their area much as the old police authorities used to do. Our PCC is Sue Mountstevens. She has instituted an award scheme in which people can nominate both members of the public and serving police officers who they feel deserve special recognition. The naming of the schemes is slightly confusing: that for members of the public is called PCC’s Pride Awards; that for police officers is the Be Proud Awards. It appears that anyone can nominate anyone.