Over the past 2 days, two potentially serious accidents have been caused by bricks/rocks being thrown from the Yellow Bridge over the A350. Blandford SNT wish to make residents aware of the potential for serious injury or damage by persons throwing items from the Yellow bridge which crosses the A350 at the north end of town. Police are appealing for any witnesses or persons with information to come forward.You can contact Dorset Police by calling 101.

Fraudsters are targeting people by “cold calling” them on the telephone.

The scam starts with the following simple activity:

1. They will state that they are from the Bank Fraud department, the Police or other Law Enforcement.

2. They will tell the victim that fraud is being carried out on the victim’s bank account and that to prevent it they need to carry out any of the below activities:-

• Need to access your bank accounts online.
• Need to hand over your pin numbers and bank cards to a courier/official sent to collect them.
• Need to hand over money to A courier/ official sent to collect them.
• Need to transfer your money to another “safe” bank account(s) which they provide details of.

3. In order to prove their own credentials they will often ask you to telephone the “fraud” number you may have on the back of your bank card, or they may even ask you to telephone the Police to check that there is an official investigation, or telephone your own bank once the phone call to them is terminated.

   Do not be fooled!

   Do not telephone anyone at that stage as the phone line remains open and you are simply telephoning them back without realising. They will then continue with your assistance in stealing your money by any of the above methods.

   PROTECT YOURSELF

• The bank or the police will never telephone you “out of the blue” to ask you to transfer money into another account or hand over any of your money or bank cards. It is your money!!
• The bank or the police will never ask for your personal bank account details, or pin numbers over the phone.
• If you really want to check the credentials of a caller then go into your bank and ask to speak to the bank manager or use another phone to call the bank or police.
• If you are still unsure then attend a police station.
• Never discuss your banking details with strangers who call you!

Farm Thefts

Overnight Friday 6th February – Saturday 7th February  a farmyard at Hargrove, Shaftesbury has been entered. A wheeled pressure washer has been stolen.

Tarrant Valley – Burglaries

Dorset Police have had 2 daytime burglaries reported in the last 2 days in the Tarrant Valley.

On Thursday 5th February, a property was broken into in Tarrant Hinton. The offender(s) gained entry by smashing a rear window and an untidy search of the property was made and items taken.

On Friday 6th February, in the morning, a property was broken into in Tarrant Gunville. Offender(s) gained entry by forcing open a ground floor window and once inside, an untidy search of the property has been made and items taken.

If anyone saw or heard anyone/thing suspicious in the vacinity of these villages, on these days, please call Dorset Police on 101, quoting crime number 5201 for the Tarrant Hinton burglary and 5323 for the Tarrant Gunville burglary.

Blandford Rural SNT would like to take this opportunity to remind all residents to be vigilant and keep their properties secure.  There is no such thing as ‘I’m only popping out, it will be ok if I leave the back door unlocked’. Keep yourself and your property safe and secure.  If anyone would like to have a free Crime Prevention Survey of their property, completed by their local SNT, please call 101 and ask to speak to a member of the team.

Please see below messages received from Action Fraud –

Pension Changes 2015

HMRC have advised that from April 2015, people over the age of 55 will be given the flexibility of taking a number of smaller lump sum pension pots. 25% of the sum will be tax-free, with the remaining pension fund charged at marginal rate of income tax.

If you take out money from your pension fund before the age of 55, the normal tax rules apply.  We are concerned that fraudsters will take advantage of these rule changes by offering to invest pensions on the victim’s behalf.  Be very wary of such offers.

Avoid losing your hard-earned cash:

• Do not invest with companies which cold call you, offering extremely high returns. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• Seek financial advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau, who work alongside the Treasury delivering the ‘Pension Wise’ service.
• If you wish to invest your savings in a company, please ensure you seek advice from an FCA registered and authorised advisor
• Be aware of callers offering a free pension review service by phone call, email and text message and do not invest in unregulated markets such as overseas property developments, storage units or forestry

We are holding a parcel in your name” – scam postcards delivered to resident’s homes

Scam postcards are being delivered to UK residents’ homes claiming that a parcel containing “jewellery” is waiting for the homeowner.

Find out how to avoid becoming a victim of this type of fraud by visiting the website below-

http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/alert-we-are-holding-a-parcel-in-your-name-scam-postcards-delivered-to-residents-homes-feb15

Dear Resident

This Thursday from 10am you can see democracy in action as I present my proposal to freeze the cost of the policing element of the council tax to the Police and Crime Panel.  The meeting will be webcast and I would like to invite you to join us online for the meeting at http://webcasting.dorsetforyou.com/core/portal/home

My decision to freeze the precept has not been taken lightly. I have sought to balance the needs of our police service with the demands on residents across Dorset. The government have offered me £574,000 if I decide to freeze for this financial year. My preference, naturally, is that wherever possible, I would prefer the government to fund local policing rather than the people of Dorset having to bridge the funding gap in these difficult financial times.

A seven week public consultation has been running on the 2015/2016 precept proposals, which closed last week. Of the respondents, 29% have indicated that they support a freeze. 15% would support a 1% increase although this can be achieved by accepting the Freeze Grant at no cost to the council tax payer. The full results, which can be viewed on our website, will be presented to the Police and Crime Panel on Thursday.

I do hope you are able to join us online for this important event. If you’re a twitter user, we will also be posting updates from the Council chamber via our @PCCDorset twitter account and you can join in the conversation via the hashtag #dpcp2015

Kind regards

Martyn Underhill
​Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner