Sutton Town Centre

In recent years Sutton Town Centre has taken on a whole new look both during the day and night in order to attract more people into the area.

A number of security measures have been introduced to make the High Street area as safe as possible and it is the proud boast of Sutton Town Centre Manager that Sutton is now one of the safest towns to visit.

New safety measures introduce include 15 cctv cameras which cover the whole of the high street area and there are plans to cover the area around the railway station. The cameras are monitored 24 hours per day throughout the year. The cameras provide excellent images making persons easily identifiable from their features . The scheme is being extended to other parts of the borough.

Multi-storey car parks can be notorious for vandalism and theft but again thanks in part to the introduction of cctv, these have virtually been extinguished in the three main car parks in the town. They have received the coveted Secure Car Park Award and are able to display the appropriate logo at the entrances.

The High Street Squad set up by the police involves both uniformed and plain clothes officers mingling with shoppers. The uniformed presence has proved to be a highly visible deterrent.

Most stores in the high street are in radio contact with each other. If a suspected shop lifter is identified in one store, other stores can be quickly tipped off and cctv cameras can be used to track that person's movements.

Both St. Nicholas and Times Square shopping centres have their own security staff and again , use cctv to identify potential troublemakers.

A potential trouble spot around the railway station was targeted by the police earlier this year and from an initial average of 12 arrests a day they reduced to one a week at the end of the period. Cctv cameras fitted outside the station will further assist in identifying any problems.

The evening economy in Sutton is vibrant boasting many pubs, restaurants, hotels, clubs, snooker and indoor bowls also a multi screen cinema. Further security measures are enforced at night so that everyone can enjoy themselves in a trouble free environment.

High street pubs have licensed door staff on duty at peak times, all are licensed by the local authority and the Police. Door staff enforce a strict dress code, stop possible under age drinkers and prevent anyone who is known to cause problems from entering the premises.

A pub watch scheme has been introduced whereby licensees can warn each other if there has been a problem in their premises to ensure that anyone ejected cannot go into another licensed