Police in Dudley are highlighting the ways you can help make your neighbourhood a safer place, whatever your skills, availability or experience.

You can be anything from a part-time volunteer helping to tackle graffiti in your neighbourhood to a Special Constable with the same powers as a regular police officer.

In Dudley, West Midlands Police are currently looking to boost the number of Street Watch teams operating across the borough - and this is another way that you can get involved.

Street Watch teams are set up and run entirely by the community for the community, and volunteers work in their own time and to their own strengths.

Although Dudley is the safest borough in the West Midlands, you can help to keep it that way by starting or joining a Street Watch scheme, and being an extra presence on the streets - which has a proven impact on crime prevention and reassurance.

Eight brilliant Street Watch schemes are already doing fantastic work across Dudley, and other Street Watch volunteers have brought about changes to better the lives of people living in neighbourhoods across the West Midlands.

Many schemes have incorporated their patrols with dog walks, with adapted hi-vis jackets for their four-legged friends. Other groups are getting the steps in by volunteering more than 100 hours per month - a staggering 310 miles!

If you’re interested in signing up to a local Street Watch scheme, or starting your own please contact the Dudley Partnerships Team via email.

More information on Street Watch can be found here.