POLICE have vowed to protect the law-abiding public and tackle criminal activity by installing CCTV cameras to monitor Egerton Court.

Since stepping into his new role last month, Inspector Jim Bailey has wasted little time in identifying Egerton Court on Barrow Island as one of Barrow's biggest policing priorities.

With a number of high-profile armed robberies and repeated calls regarding anti-social behaviour, Insp Bailey has increased police patrols to around six times a day and has big plans for the perceived crime hotspot.

"One of the things we're looking at is installing CCTV at Egerton Court," he revealed in a video interview with The Mail.

"If an incident takes place, we'll have a camera there and we can see what's going on straightaway."

Insp Bailey is determined to improve the lives of the "law-abiding, good people" who live on Barrow Island and vows criminals and residents who misbehave "will be targeted".

Each police shift, of which there are three a day, are tasked with patrolling Egerton Court at least once, but this is described as a bare minimum and patrols often take place at least six times a day.

One of the inspector's former colleagues, who has since retired, said while he hoped things will improve he believes "the cancer is too virulent".

The former police officer said: "Good people live there but sadly there are too many others in one place who seem to think they can behave as abhorrently as they wish without a care for the other residents or the wider community of Barrow Island.

"The trouble is there is invariably no consequences to their behaviour so the cycle of deprivation continues."

But Insp Bailey is undeterred by Egerton Court's reputation and is determined to crack down on criminality.

His next step will be to campaign for funding to pay for the CCTV system which could cost around £20,000. But once in place, he hopes the minority of residents who commit crimes will be left with nowhere to hide.

"I don't want to give Egerton Court that bad rap; the law-abiding citizens will get our support but people who misbehave and commit crime are going to get targeted," he said.

Anyone with information about criminal activity is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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