Thetford wardens could be deployed across more towns

Officials at Breckland Council have hailed the scheme as a success and say it has helped to tackle crime in Thetford, where the civilian officers are being trialled.

This is despite the rate of some offences increasing in the town over recent months. 

Council officials say they are looking to extend the programme across the district but admit these ambitions are restricted by limited funding. 

Breckland's safer street wardens (Image: Breckland Council) The new street wardens are primarily allocated to Thetford and are tasked with seizing open containers from street drinkers, engaging with local businesses and issuing fines for offences such as littering, fulfilling a similar role to Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).

Norfolk's 150 PCSOs were axed in 2018 to save money.

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Members of Breckland Council were told at a meeting this week that locals had reported a reduction in anti-social behaviour over the first five months of the scheme.

However, officials conceded that reports of some offences had actually increased during this time - and suggested this was due to "increased confidence" in the police and therefore more reports.

Safer street wardens on patrol (Image: Breckland Council) Craig Fowler, environmental health and licensing manager at the authority, said: "We did look at spreading this scheme across other towns but there is limited funding.

"Thetford is a pilot and we will look in the future to see whether we can expand and roll it out elsewhere.

"There are some irons in the fire regarding that."

The wardens do not have powers to arrest people and have different responsibilities to police officers.

The roles are funded by the Home Office through the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk, Sarah Taylor, who is also a member of Breckland Council.