Partnership Grid Reference Scheme launched in Claverley

Picture from left to right are: Bridgnorth PC Matthew Picken; Community Support Officer Fiona Bastock-Young; Retained Support Officer Dave Jennings; Simon Cawdell, Vicar of All Saints in Claverley, and Retained Support Officer Andy Bevon.

Following the Partners and Communities Together (PACT) meetings in Claverley, concerns were raised about emergency services, being unable to locate properties in this very rural area of the Bridgnorth District.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, working in partnership with Bridgnorth District Community Safety Partnership and West Mercia Police, decided to issue every home within the Claverley parish area, with a card, which will have printed on the front, the properties address and the individual twelve figure grid reference for that property. Residents are then encouraged to keep this card in a safe accessible place, where it could be easily accessed in an emergency.

One of the main objectives of the scheme is to assist in speeding up response times. When residents call the emergency services they can pass this grid reference on to the control room operators, who can then pass more detailed location information on to crews responding to the emergency, thus speeding up the time in which it takes emergency services to attend.

Claverley is the first area in the Bridgnorth District to have such a scheme and residents can expect to start receiving their cards during the second week of May.

The cards will also contain a contact numbers for Crime Stoppers and have details of Home Safety Risk Assessments which are carried out free of charge by Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.

1st May, 2007