To ensure that a visit to Andover Town Centre is safe, easy and enjoyable for shoppers, visitors and people who work locally, Andover BID has announced the launch of the Town Centre Ranger Scheme.
The role of the Ranger is to provide a highly visible and approachable uniformed presence on the streets of the town centre area to support customers and businesses.
The Rangers will be uniformed and clearly identifiable as fulfilling an enforcement role. All wear a body camera and have low level delegated powers from the police. The Andover town centre Ranger service is led by the BID and supported by Test Valley Borough Council.
They will be supplied by local company Venture Security who are one of the UK’s highest performing security contractors, ranked within the top 2% of security providers in the country by the Security Industry Authority (SIA). The rangers will work in shifts and are Security Industry Authority accredited.
Steve Godwin, Andover BID manager said, “We are committed to making a visit to Andover Town centre safe, easy and enjoyable. The Rangers are part of our longer-term strategy to improve the shopping and business experience in the town centre. Businesses have been very clear that this is an initiative that they feel should be a priority for BID to deliver in Andover and that’s exactly what we have worked hard to achieve”
Cllr Phil North, leader of Test Valley Borough Council aded, “This will be really great for businesses and shoppers and is a fantastic example of the BID and the council working together for the benefit of the town. Andover has huge potential but, like many town centres, it has its problem areas that prove to be a bugbear.
“The antisocial behaviour around Town Mills pocket park has been an ongoing issue and the police have done their best to tackle this. But with the new ranger scheme in place we hope to put a stop to it for good and improve people’s experience when they visit the town centre.”
Under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS), the Rangers can exercise limited powers in areas relevant to their roles. They will carry and support the recently installed state of the art digital radio scheme introduced to pubs and shops by the BID last year.
The Rangers will help by:
• Improving the town centre experience ensuring that visitors, shoppers, and those employed by
businesses within the town feel safe and secure
• Assisting in reducing anti-social behaviour including street drinking and begging
• Assisting with first aid issues
• Increasing public reassurance by providing a dedicated resource to deal with these matters, in
conjunction with the local police and other agencies.
Rangers are already carrying out daily patrols in Winchester, Basingstoke, Salisbury, and Fareham
providing a real boost to the towns. The Rangers will be patrolling Andover town centre in early
September.
