Update on policing in Bassetlaw from Inspector Robert Harrison - April 2025

Hello and welcome to this latest update from your neighbourhood policing team. This is the first of a series of regular updates in this format to inform stakeholders about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and the impact we are having across our communities.

As well as highlighting some great work by your local officers, we will also use this space to inform you about significant local trends and anything else we think you need to be aware of.

Current priorities in your area

First of all, here is a reminder of our key local policing priorities, which are agreed quarterly after consultation with the public and local partners. They are:

• Drug supply and drug use in Worksop

• And antisocial behaviour and crime in Worksop town centre

• Rural crime in East Bassetlaw

Actions on our priorities

ASB and crime in Worksop town centre

Over the past few months, I have received numerous complaints about antisocial behaviour and crime in the town centre.

We’re talking here about things like shop thefts, public drinking and drug use, and the inevitable antisocial behaviour that comes with it.

We know that many of these offences are being committed by a relatively small group of people living with some very complex needs like substance addiction and mental ill-health.

Whilst we sympathise with people who are struggling and will continue to work with partners to ensure they are getting the help they need, we absolutely will not tolerate the kind of behaviour we have been seeing in the town centre.

I want Worksop to be a pleasant place to live in, work in, and visit, and will not allow a small number of people to damage the town in the way they have been.

That’s why we’ve increased the number of local foot patrols over recent weeks and have been very assertive in the way we deal with these individuals.

To this end we have made multiple arrests, returned prolific offenders to prison, and brought several suspects to court.

Highlights include:

• The arrest and charge of two suspects for multiple shop theft offences

• The detention and jailing of a prolific thief who was chased down by officers

• And the very swift arrest of a burglary suspect after a shop window was smashed

These are the results of proactive policing by officers who know the local community – and its most problematic individuals – extremely well.

With the summer seemingly arriving early, I want residents and retailers to know that they can expect to see an enhanced police presence going forward. So, if they see issues or behaviours of concern, I ask them to contact us without delay.

We are also working to secure criminal behaviour orders (CBOs) against some of our most prolific offenders. These orders allow us to prevent people from entering certain areas of the town and from doing certain things – such as entering shops in possession of bags. Any breaches are themselves a criminal offence and will quickly land offenders in prison and off he streets. These orders have been used to good effect elsewhere and we expect to see similarly positive results in Worksop.

Drug supply

Drug dealing and drug related offending are major drivers for the issues detailed above, with many offenders both using and selling illegal drugs on our streets. Most of those people are not major players in the drug market, but they are a public nuisance, and they are damaging our town.

We have been disrupting that behaviour in exactly the same way we’ve been tackling anti social behaviour – with boots on the ground and a concerted effort to get up close and personal with offenders.

Our council colleagues are also proving a great help with their comprehensive CCTV coverage, which is being shared in real time with officers on the ground. This approach recently led to the jailing of a prolific local offender who was caught in the act of dealing drugs.

Local intelligence also led us to execute a warrant in Knanton Road on 23 April, which uncovered a significant cannabis grow and has led to criminal charges for two suspects. A further warrant was executed at an address on Lincoln Street on 24 April where two suspects were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply.

For obvious reasons I will not share the details here, but readers can also expect to see a few more doors going in over the next few weeks as we execute more court warrants.

Rural crime in East Bassetlaw

A huge part of Nottinghamshire’s rural community call Bassetlaw their home, and we have continuously welcomed an open dialogue with our farmers and residents so we can understand what issues they are facing, and what we can do as their local police team to crack down on rural crime.

Some key problems we are working hard to target include off-road bikes and quads, theft and poaching. We want to reassure you all that we take rural crime extremely seriously, and we are working with other teams across the force – including our road bike team, drone team and roads policing -  to run targeted cross border operations. We’ve also helped secure farmer’s sites recently.

I also want to take this time to highlight our rural crime and wildlife officers that you will find working hard in each of our neighbourhood policing teams. We are continuing to invest in training for them and we encourage anyone with any concerns or questions to get in touch.

With more operations and targeted work planned in the coming months, we’ll be sharing even more updates of our proactive work in future newsletters.

John Street explosion

As you will all be aware, Worksop was the scene was a major incident last month when a house exploded in John Street, damaging several neighbouring properties and claiming the life of man who was later recovered from the wreckage.

As investigations into what happened continue, I would thank all the members of the neighbourhood policing team who worked so hard in the aftermath of this incident to identify witnesses and maintain the scene. That was very labour-intensive work and had a considerable impact on many of the other things we have wanted to do over the last few weeks.

How to contact us

Looking for help or information? Want to tell us something or report an incident? Use our simple online tool to find the best way to get in contact.

Call 101 for non-emergency enquiries. Alternatively, our Live Chat service is available from 7am to 10pm, seven days a week. Navigate back to the home page of our website and look for the blue icon in the corner.

Call 999 if:

• a serious offence is in progress or has just been committed

• someone is in immediate danger or harm

• property is in danger of being damaged

• a serious disruption to the public is likely

If you wish to anonymously report crime or suspicious behaviour, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Want to find out who your local police officers are and how to contact them?

From the home page of our website, enter your postcode under 'Find your area' and navigate to the 'On the team' tab.