Dozens of Hartlepool alley gates set to be improved to deter criminals

Proposals have been submitted to Hartlepool Borough Council planning department to install anti-climbing attachments on top of 36 alley gates across the Victoria ward.

Repairs and refurbishment works will also be carried out to the barriers, some of which have been “vandalised and had meshing cut or damaged”.

According to the application, submitted by council officers, the Victoria ward “experiences some of the highest levels of crime and disorder in Hartlepool, with particularly high levels of household burglary driven by drugs misuse”.

It adds the area was responsible for 15.6% of all acquisitive crime offences, 18.4% of all violence and sexual offences, 19.7% of all burglary offences, 24% of all possession of weapons offences and 25% of all drugs offences recorded in Hartlepool from June 2022 to May 2023.

The proposals come after it was announced last year that nearly £1m had been awarded to the Office of Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner as part of the Home Office’s £43 million Safer Streets Fund.

It was confirmed up to £333,333 would be spent in the Victoria ward in Hartlepool.

Work as part of the latest proposals would include anti-climb spiked roll bars being attached to the top of the existing sites.

A planning statement in support of the application notes alley gates are fitted to most alleyways in the area although many have “become ineffective”.

It added: “Hartlepool Borough Council will thus reinvigorate an alley gate management and inspection programme, ensuring long term effectiveness and efficiency.

“As well as the anti-climbing work, Hartlepool Borough Council is also carrying out a maintenance programme of the gates as it is recognised that some of the lock mechanisms have been subject to vandalism, as is the case with mesh panels.”

Alley gates to benefit from the work stretch across Collingwood Road, Sandringham Road, Grosvenor Street, Laburnum Street, Murray Street, Straker Street, Dent Street, Christopher Street and Angus Street.

Gates in Raeburn Street, Duke Street, Sheriff Street, Tankerville Street, Stephen Street and Harcourt Street

A decision on the proposals is expected in March.