Shoppers in Liverpool city centre before Christmas were reminded to jingle all the way to and from the till, by putting bells on their purses and bags.
The City Central BID and the Liverpool Crime Alert team handed out more than 2,000 sets of bells, at an event named Operation Jingle Bells, so that shoppers weren’t forgetting or misplacing their purses during the festive rush.
The purse bells, which were handed out with a 1,000 stretchable chains that connect purses to a bag or coat, have proven to be a tool against pick-pocketing. Merseyside Police were also at the event offering shoppers assistance to protect their mobile phones via a registration scheme.
Ian Ward, newly appointed chairman of City Central BID, which co-funds numerous safety initiatives in the city centre such as the retail radio alert scheme and the St Johns cop shop, said: ”Liverpool city centre is at its peak now and the sheer volume of people all rushing from one place to another creates the perfect conditions for people to misplace or lose their bank cards and money. We want to help people avoid any heartache in the final run up to Christmas and these purse bells and chains will ensure they can shop with peace of mind.”
And Tony Jopson, Business Crime Reduction Manager, added: ”These bells are a brilliantly simple way for people to ensure they don’t lose their purses at the busiest and most crucial time of the year. The new stretchable chains are also great at deterring pick pockets and if people don’t get a chance to pick one up we urge them to be that little bit extra vigilant to ensure the thieves don’t have a happy Christmas.”
Liverpool city centre neighbourhood inspector Greg Lambert said: “We see up to 150,000 people visit our city at this time of year and we are urging those visitors to come and stop by the mobile police station, that will be based in different venues around the city, during the Christmas period and get your electrical items registered. We want as many people as possible to get their phones registered on the database this Christmas. It’s simple and free to do and it means that if a mobile phone is found, or if we stop someone with a mobile that we believe does not belong to them, we can quickly check on the database. We’re also encourage people to bring their other items, such as tablets, sat navs and other electronic items – not a lot of people realise that these can be registered as well, but if you bring them along we can get them on the database. Registering only takes a few minutes.”
