A GROUP of community leaders met with senior Cumbria police officers to raise concerns about rising crime rates.

The Croftlands Safety Group in Ulverston raised concerns about what they see in the media and wanted answers as to why crime rate have risen.

Councillor Mark Wilson said the meeting was a success and the senior officers have plans in place to reduce crime.

He said: “The police are doing a fine job fighting crime in Cumbria.

“They said that plans are in place to stop crime with new inspection methods across the county.”

The meeting comes on the back of a county lines drug gang who have been jailed for a total of 20 years for flooding the streets of Barrow with drugs.

A member of the group raised the issue of county lines drug trafficking to Superintendent Matt Pearman and Sergeant Rupert Johnson.

They said another 25 officers have been taken on post cuts to provide dedicated back up for the most serious crimes.

County lines gang use a method called ‘cuckooing’ to move drugs around Cumbria.

Cuckooing is when drug dealers take over the home of a vulnerable individual.

They use their home as a base for selling and manufacturing drugs.

A common way of accessing homes is locating drug users and offer free drugs in exchange.

Cllr Wilson said police have a special order to tackle crimes and smother cuckooing.

He said: “There are arrests in Cumbria every night regarding to drug-related incidents.

“They can now use special orders which allows them to stop cuckooing or if they suspect any homes doing this.

“Officers will be rapidly deployed in Cumbria to crimes that occur so they are doing a good job.”

Other elements of the meeting included cases of child sexual and online grooming.

There have been 1,020 recorded sexual offences against children aged four to eight in the North West of England in one year alone, according to police figures.

Ulverston mayor Dave Webster said the meeting was an overview for residents and councillors to ask questions and keep up-to-date with Cumbria police.

He said: “It is an opportunity for the safety group to get together with the new superintendent Matt Pearman and Sergeant Rupert Johnson.

“It was about how people can access information and report crimes.”

“They also talked about a modern slavery event at Ulverston Library and how partnerships are working together.

He added: “As far as I am aware the police are progressing well.

“It was also mentioned that there has been a change in how crimes are being reported.”