Archived press release

Date Published: 09/06/08

Officers will be on hand to offer advice on community safety issues

Aylesbury town centre will be transformed this Saturday (14 June) as local crime reduction and community safety organisations demonstrate their work.

The Aylesbury Vale Community Safety Partnership is co-ordinating the ‘Big Day Out’ event in Kingsbury, which is free of charge and suitable for all the family.

The purpose of the event is to highlight how local organisations are working together to ensure crime levels remain low in Aylesbury Vale, making the area one of the safest places to live, work and visit. Local residents and visitors will have the opportunity to speak to a number of organisations and also see various displays and exhibitions.

Anyone in Kingsbury square between 11am and 3pm will get the chance to try a pair of beer goggles and get a taste of the retarded reaction times and disorientation which can be caused by having even a single alcoholic drink before driving.

At the same time they will be confronted with the consequences of a real road accident with a wrecked car on display and a fire and rescue service simulation of cutting a crash victim from the vehicle at 12pm. Police will also be on hand to demonstrate drink testing and weapons detection.

Young people can practise their skateboarding skills at the mobile skate park in the square and try their hand at DJ-ing and animation with the i-van and Sound Studio.

There will also be the opportunity to win a number of great prizes, including Odeon cinema tickets, entertainment vouchers and an iPod.

The Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust will be demonstrating how the new high security doors and windows they are fitting to properties offer improved personal safety to their residents. They will also be launching a £10,000 community safety competition, open to Trust residents, to enable them to make suggestions on how to increase safety in their neighbourhoods.

Representatives from Aylesbury Vale District Council, Buckinghamshire County Council, Thames Valley Police, the Bucks Fire and Rescue Service and other Community Safety Partnership organisations will be on hand to offer advice and answer any questions the public may have on community safety issues.

Nigel Brooke, Chairman of the Aylesbury Vale Community Safety Partnership, said: “The Big Day Out promises to be both informative and entertaining for local residents and for visitors. People will be given an opportunity to see how well our emergency services operate and also ask advice from the various organisations attending the event."

For further details about the Community Safety Partnership and their activities at the Big Day Out, visit the council’s website at www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/community-living or call 01296 585061.