Out-of-hours council services could help police Windsor night time economy

More out-of-hours services could be put in place by the Royal Borough to help police the night-time economy in Windsor town centre.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Cllr Carwyn Cox (Con, Hurley and Walthams), cabinet member for environmental services, said he was working towards turning the borough into a '24-hour council'.

Services dealing with tree felling, planning enforcement, dangerous structures, and noise nuisance were trialled from January on an out-of-hours basis and were permanently implemented in May.

The council is now looking at other services which could be extended to out of hours, including services dealing with the night-time economy in Windsor, Maidenhead and Ascot town centres.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Carwyn Cox said: "What we are looking to do is to provide a more rounded service in the night-time economy.

"Windsor has a busier night-time economy but all our residents who are impacted by anti-social behaviour in town centres would want us to help to ensure it operates in a way which benefits everyone."

Specific services being looked at to help police include checks on closing times of clubs in Windsor, anti-social behaviour prevention and on-call community wardens and enforcement officers.

Initial proposals for the service have considered multi-skill teams operating on a shift basis to step-in when issues arise, as well as collaborating with the police and PCSOs.

The majority of Windsor's late-night bars and nightclubs are centred in the Goswell Hill area.

Gill Naden, manager of Yello Bar, in Goswell Hill, said: "Licensing checks are already carried out by the police on a fortnightly basis but anything which helps to keep the town centre safe is a good thing."

Work will be carried out on the proposals and a new report will go before cabinet in November.