CLEOBURY Mortimer has become the first town in the country to be totally protected with a state of the art property-marking system as part of a new West Mercia Police initiative.

Every household in Cleobury Mortimer has been visited and has been offered the chance to security mark their property free of charge with SmartWater.

SmartWater manufactures and supplies cutting-edge forensic marking products which can be used to protect all manner of valuables, business assets and vehicles. Every bottle of the liquid carries a unique forensic code which is registered to a specific address.

Once applied it is almost impossible to remove and can only be seen under ultraviolet (UV) light.

Police officers, volunteers from Cleobury Crime Reduction Group and representatives from SmartWater have been in Cleobury Mortimer delivering the product to people’s houses and supporting residents to mark their property.

“Cleobury Mortimer is to become the first We Don’t Buy Crime town in the country, which is a very big deal for our community and a big step to assist in making our community less desirable to criminals,” said Sean Thorogood, chairman of Cleobury Mortimer Parish Council.

West Mercia PCC Bill Longmore is a strong advocate both of crime prevention and the rehabilitation of offenders.

"One of my main aims is to enable communities to take the lead in preventing crime for their own benefit and this scheme is a perfect example of this,” he said.

"This initiative fuses modern technology, in SmartWater, with old fashioned community spirit, with the aim of achieving something that will make Cleobury Mortimer safer and stronger.”

The initiative in Cleobury Mortimer was instigated by the Cleobury Crime Reduction Group and has been funded by Cleobury Mortimer Parish Council, South Shropshire Housing Group and the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner.