Tayside Police and its Community Safety partners in Perth and Kinross today launched the latest scheme to assist efforts in preventing bogus caller crime.

It is hoped that the Nominated Neighbour initiative will provide residents with added reassurance and help older people and vulnerable members of our community to feel safer in their own homes.

Through the scheme, residents are provided with an A4-size card that they can hold up to a window or show through the gap in the door when a cold caller arrives at their door.

The card states: ‘I do not recognise you!  Please go to number XX who is my nominated neighbour.  They will check your identity and return with you.’

The caller can then go to the Nominated Neighbour, who checks their identity and if they are genuine returns to the resident’s home. They will stay with the caller throughout the duration of their visit.

It is hoped that the scheme will promote and reinforce safe door answering behaviour, so that residents do not open their doors to anyone they don’t recognise.

A Tayside Police spokesman said:

‘‘Our aim is to give householders, in particular the elderly and more vulnerable, the opportunity to deal with unwanted callers without having to take decisions on their own, or even having to enter into direct conversation with them.

‘‘The Nominated Neighbour is chosen freely by the householder and should always be readily available. We are confident that this will greatly reduce the chances of the householder entering into any contract, having unnecessary or overpriced work carried out, or giving cash out unnecessarily.

‘‘Furthermore, it is anticipated that this reinforced approach will scare away the bogus callers and criminals who will not want to stick around and be identified by more than one person.’’

At the heart of the scheme is the ethos of being a good neighbour.  People who feel uncomfortable about opening the door to an unknown caller no longer have to quiz that person on their doorstep and fear becoming a victim of a bogus official or fraudulent tradesman.

Any genuine caller will follow the instructions given on the card and contact the Nominated Neighbour. Unscrupulous callers will be deterred.

Funded by the Community Safety Partnership, the scheme will be co-ordinated by Tayside Police in Perth.  It is an initiative that has already proved successful in a number of other police areas throughout the UK.

Furthermore, Tayside Police will offer free impartial physical crime prevention advice, pointing out vulnerabilities in domestic properties.  Perthshire Care and Repair offers an excellent programme - the “Small Repair Scheme” where some minor safety or security works can be provided for eligible householders when funding permits, and when referred by responsible community members, for example: Community Wardens, Neighbourhood Watch, NHS Falls Clinic OTs, Community PCs, Victim Support and the Tayside Fire & Rescue Home Safety officer, free of charge.

For more information on the Nominated Neighbour Scheme please contact Gail Cain, Community Engagement Administrator, Divisional HQ, Perth, on (01738) 892642 or Donald Campbell, Crime Prevention Officer, on (01738) 892937.