News Archive - EAT Day Success

Another successful Environmental Action Team (EAT) Day, organised by The Safer Thurrock Partnership, took place in Grays on Wednesday 15th August 2007.

The Partnership agencies of Thurrock Council, Thurrock Police, and Thurrock & Brentwood Command of Essex Fire and Rescue Service worked with the DVLA with the aim of improving the environment and conditions in the area, to enhance the quality of life for local residents. Environmental Action Team Days occur at regular intervals throughout the year in different locations throughout the Borough.

The objective of the day was to undertake proactive and high visibility action to tackle neighbourhood nuisance problems and other anti-social behaviour issues, the removal of accumulations of rubbish, cleaning up graffiti and fly posting, removing untaxed and uninsured vehicles as well as abandoned vehicles and taking action against those responsible.

Staff from all the agencies tackled the environmental issues that were identified during the day and Police were on hand to issue warrants where necessary. Council and Police staff provided personal and home security advice to members of the community. Fire and Rescue officers were on the lookout for potential hazards and took necessary remedial action. Officers also offered fire prevention advice to residents in the area.

The Vehicle Enforcement Team working with the DVLA had a particularly successful day between them lifting 33 vehicles, crushing 13 of them and ticketing a further 11. Six vehicles were identified with no tax. The Streets Team were very successful and had used the services of offenders to assist their teams in removing graffiti and cleaning up the area of Crown House in Crown Road.

The Fire Service engaged with a number of residents regarding home fire safety and made two Fire Safety referrals. Jointly the Fire Service and Street Teams removed 25 vehicle batteries from one property, which constituted a fire hazard. The Police undertook 14 Warrant visits and were able to locate one stolen vehicle. A number of residents, 15, were given advice on securing their windows. Parking Enforcement issued five parking tickets in the area, and one vehicle was removed by this team.

Cllr. Ben Maney, Portfolio Holder for Community Protection said: "This was another productive partnership effort to make our community safer. The results speak for themselves. The fire and rescue service discovered several fire hazards that were almost inviting anti-social behaviour to take place and many illegal vehicles were removed from our streets. Residents were positive about the enforcement action we were taking and appreciated it would make their immediate environment safer. It was another hugely successful high visibility operation to make Thurrock safer and I'm proud of the effort everyone involved has made to ensure this was a success".