AROUND £450,000 of funding has been secured in a bid to make Witham’s streets safer.

Police, fire and crime commissioner Roger Hirst has secured £1,182,795 of funding from the Home Office’s Safer Streets fund.

This government funding will be matched by £819,643 from partners including Braintree, Colchester and Epping councils to bring the total funding to just over £2million.

Almost a quarter of the cash will be focused on Witham Town Centre.

The commissioner’s team says the area has a higher than average crime level for Essex and perceptions of anti-social behaviour have driven a fear of crime in the area.

The focus of the bid was on reducing violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour, and neighbourhood crime.

Nearly £300,000 of the safer streets funding as well as just more than £150,000 from Braintree Council, Fusion, Essex Police, CARA, Witham Town Council and Eastlight housing has been allocated to Witham.

The funding will support the Collingwood Road and River Walkway areas of Witham Town Centre.

Proposed spending includes installing new CCTV cameras, improving landscaping and visibility of alley and pathways, improved signage, lockable metal gates and intercom systems for residents at key building locations, and promoting Neighbourhood Watch schemes, among other ideas.

Frankie Ricci, chairman of the Braintree District Community Safety Partnership and communities boss at Braintree Council said: “Working with the police, fire and crime commissioner, a significant amount of funding has been secured to tackle key issues in Witham Central, including anti-social behaviour and criminal activity, and to make people - and in particular women - feel safer travelling through the area at night.

“Working in partnership with partners such as Witham Town Council, Eastlight Community Homes and Greater Anglia – we have identified how we can work together to provide solutions to enable Witham residents to feel safer.”

Mr Hirst added: “We all want to see less crime in our communities and this focused investment will mean we can drive down neighbourhood crime and anti-social behaviour in these areas. 

“We have been told by communities that there is a real fear of crime in these areas, especially among women and girls.

“Nobody should feel afraid to go out in their community and this work will help create safer spaces which everybody can enjoy without fear.”