Rhondda BMX track cuts crime

Anti-social behaviour causes problems in communities at any time of the year but it is a particular problem during the summer months. A BMX track in the Rhondda Valley has been voted one of the best crime prevention initatives in Europe.

It was launched in 2009 and has nearly halved all the incidents of anti-social behavour. The scheme is now being recommended by the European Union.

Youngsters at the BMX track at Porth in Rhondda Cynon Taf said it has given them "something to do" - and is "great fun."

The initiative has been picked out as one of the best in Europe for crime prevention.

PC Nigel Bird, who led the Trehafod BMX bike track initiative, said it had brought "a massive improvement to the area", with a 70 percent cut in anti-social behaviour locally.

The Trehafod BMX bike track project will now be included in a list of best and promising examples of community policing in Europe, which will be published by the European Commission next year.

The project - which has nearly halved anti-social behaviour in Porth since 2009 - was showcased at an international policing seminar in Italy in July.

A project used to tackle problems with anti-social behaviour in Porth has been voted one of the best crime prevention initiatives in the whole of Europe. A BMX track was built in Trehafod in 2009 and since then the number of residential complaints have been halved.

PC Nigel Bird, who led the initiative, says: "It was amazing to learn that police officers in all corners of the European Union face the exact same kind of problems that we do in south Wales. The BMX track was the result of lots of hard work by many different organisations."