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 The Safer Travel Unit has successfully carried out Operation Diesel; a week long multi agency initiative tackling anti social behaviour and crime on the county's public transport network.
A high-visibility week of action has seen detector arches being used in bus stations with two arrests made in relation to carrying weapons. Trading Standards & Police licensing teams took action to prevent underage alcohol sales and Neighbourhood Policing Teams provided a presence on a total of 647 buses.
Comments from passengers on bus services across Lancashire has shown that they felt reassured that the police, the Safer Travel Unit and their many partners were taking the time to make sure the buses were safe and that anti social behaviour on them is taken seriously.
As part of vehicle safety for the week, VOSA and Private Hire & Hackney Carriage licensing teams performed around 180 checks on public service vehicles, issuing a number of them with immediate bans.
Teams involved in the week checked 25,000 passes and tickets on bus services. Operation Trojan was deployed six times which resulted in 68 litres of alcohol being seized from underage drinkers and five people were arrested for drug offences. The Safer Travel Unit has engaged with over 1,600 young people on their bespoke weapons awareness programme and offered information and advice to nearly 3,000 people in Lancashire's Transport Hubs bringing the total number of people engaged with the initiative to over 40,000 Lancashire residents.
 Rick Wilson, Safer Travel Unit Manager said "Operation Diesel is deployed to showcase the excellent work from many organisations who contribute on a daily basis to making Lancashire's public transport network one of the safest in the UK.
Much of this work often goes unnoticed and we hope that publicising the various types of activity will further reassure staff and customers alike.
If you experience anti-social behaviour on buses, at bus stops or bus stations please telephone the Safer Travel Unit hotline on 0845 053 0040 in complete confidence. "
The anti-social behaviour scheme endeavours to reduce crimes on the taxi, bus and train networks, making travel throughout Lancashire safer for everyone. |
