Update on policing in Rushcliffe from Inspector Tim Cuthbert - December 2025
Current priorities in your area
Through analysis of crime, consultation with partners, the PCC crime survey and feedback from our community, we have identified the following policing priorities from a review in September:
Theft of bikes and motorbikes – our response to a series of thefts of bikes and motorbikes across the south of the borough.
Road safety – the item I receive the most correspondence about and at the top of concerns raised in the PCC survey.
Shop theft – remains a priority because of the overall level of offences and the disproportionate amount of offences committed by persistent, repeat offenders.
Actions on our priorities
Theft of bikes and motorbikes – a problem management plan is in place to reduce offences in hotspot areas and officers have conducted additional patrols in the Ruddington area. Robust checks will take place on any suspects currently on bail and neighbourhood officers will support investigative teams as their work continues. We are also liaising with partners to investigate whether infrastructure changes will assist with crime reduction.
Road safety – Speed Watch initiatives within the community will allow us to identify problem roads and areas. Safety camera team and neighbourhood officers with speeding equipment will be utilised wherever appropriate. These initiatives will operate alongside the force-wide drink-drive campaigns ahead of Christmas.
Shop theft – we aim to locate, arrest, charge and place before the courts the small number of offenders responsible for the vast majority of retail crimes. Additional patrols have been in place to support retailers in the run-up to the busy Christmas period. A mixture of high visibility and plain clothes patrols in targeted areas allow us to be in the right place at the right time. We will also be carrying out the meticulous evidence gathering required to target these offenders with Criminal Behaviour Orders, which allow individuals to be banned from particular shops or areas. If they flout these orders, longer jail sentences can be imposed.
Did you hear about this?
A repeat offender has been jailed after neighbourhood police seized drugs following a raid on a village home.
Officers executed warrants at addresses in East Leake and West Bridgford on 8 September 2025 as part of a crackdown on drug supply across the Rushcliffe area.
At the East Leake address, in Osier Fields, police discovered a large vacuum-packed bag of cannabis and smaller bags containing further cannabis and ketamine.
Twenty-three-year-old James Handley was arrested after officers forced open the doors of the property.
Handley, of Osier Fields, was charged and went on to plead guilty to possession with intent to supply Class B drugs and possession of a Class B drug.
At Nottingham Crown Court on Friday 5 December he was jailed for a total of 18 months.
November saw the latest Rushcliffe Farmer’s Forum co-ordinated between Nottinghamshire Police and Rushcliffe Borough Council, and hosted at Oddhouse Farm.
We were joined at the event by MP James Naish, PCC Gary Godden, as well as Juliet Marshall, who is Nottinghamshire Police Rural Crime Co-ordinator, and Cllr Rob Ingliss and Gabriella Gregory from the NFU. A special thanks too to Jo McQuat for her continuing support around Farm Watch, and for helping arrange the event. It was a fantastically well attended event, with many local farms and businesses represented. We discussed a range of topics impacting the rural community in Rushcliffe, and beyond. From the Neighbourhood Policing side, we discussed the increase in rural beat surgeries, using Farm Watch, as well as the need to report suspicious incidents which could be pre-cursor events leading up to a more serious offence.
I’d like to wish a very happy retirement to Sergeant Sarah Merrall. Sarah worked on the Bridgford neighbourhood policing team for several years until around two years ago, when she was seconded to a national project to help shape the future of neighbourhood policing in the UK. Sarah has been a pleasure to work with over the years, and her dedication to her role has left a positive legacy in the Bridgford NPT.
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