Protected by water mark

More than 80 houses in Orston are protected with a forensic marking liquid after a successful launch of Smartwater in the village.

More than 50 people attended Orston Neighbourhood Watch’s launch of the scheme last week.

Each person ordered their own vial of Smartwater for a reduced price of £10, and more have since ordered packs.

Mr Bob Clarke (59) the Orston Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator, said he was pleased with the uptake.

He said around 40% of the 170 homes in the village were protected.

The aim is to reach 100 homes by the end of the month.

Mr Clarke said: “The meeting was a tremendous success and we got a fantastic response. A real cross section of people bought it.

“We need this because theft and burglaries move from place to place. We know that Bingham has Smartwater and so burglars might move on from there to our village.

“We wanted to make sure that we were fully protected.”

Smartwater is a forensic fingerprint that links owners with their property and criminals to the crime scene.

Packs usually cost £45 but Orston was able to offer them at a reduced cost thanks to money donated by the local county councillor, Mr Martin Suthers, and the Rushcliffe borough councillor, Mr John Cranswick.

Four people spoke about the benefits of Smartwater at the meeting — Mr Peter Ainley, the Nottinghamshire Police crime reduction manager, Mr John Lennard and Wendy Morris of Rushcliffe Neighbourhood Watch Support; and Zoe Hallam, the neighbourhood policing sergeant.

As well as supplying the Smartwater packs, Orston Neighbourhood Watch team is also promoting the Data Link Emergency Scheme.

Thirty people signed up for the packs and a waiting list was created for those who could not get one.

The Data Link scheme helps people keep potentially lifesaving personal information readily available in the home for use in an emergency.

Packs include a small plastic container protecting a folded data sheet for keeping in the fridge, and a green cross sticker for the fridge so the emergency services know where to look.

Mr John Billot, a Neighbourhood Watch team member, said: “One of the main aims of the Orston Neighbourhood Watch team is to ensure that the elderly and most vulnerable members of the village feel safe in their homes and Smartwater and Data Link help towards this.”