The police are considering relocating their police station in the Cleckheaton area into the town centre in response to a mini-crime wave that is particularly affecting business.

There can be no doubt that high-visibility policing puts everyone's minds at rest and the move has been welcomed by traders who are suffering burglaries and ram-raids, residents who experience the fall-out of crime, and local councillors.

The Chamber of Trade in Spenborough is quite rightly concerned with the effect that crime is having on shopkeepers and businesses in Cleckheaton, which is undermining the efforts of a great many people to make Cleckheaton an attractive place to visit.

It would make sense, therefore, for the police to invest the same level of involvement in Cleckheaton town centre that the traders do. A visible police presence would be off-putting to criminals and would give the people of the town much more confidence.

Of course, it isn't all down to the police - we can all have a part to play in cracking crime, purely by being vigilant.

There are certain groups of people who spend a lot of time on the move around our communities, and they can act as unofficial eyes and ears for the police and as a deterrent to criminals simply by being around.

One such group is taxi drivers, and three cab firms in Keighley ought to be commended for joining together in a scheme to help out the police in the town.

The firms' control rooms have been linked directly to the CCTV scheme in Bradford and taxi drivers will be able to report any incidents they spot directly to the police, who can immediately focus cameras on crimes in progress. This is a fine example of true community partnership.