THE latest Haslemere and District Chamber of Commerce evening event saw a group of members gathered at Hemingways to hear Stephen Cake, of Surrey Police, provide tips and guidance on how to keep homes and businesses safe.

Members heard that Mr Cake and his colleagues are currently working with Haslemere Town Council to investigate the viability of putting CCTV in to cover the main streets.

Many CCTV systems now recognise and track car number plates, which enables the police to track movements of known suspects across the country.

Mr Cake is also discussing with the town council possible placements for cash machines to compensate for those the town has lost due to bank closures.

He also spoke of the work that is being undertaken by car manufacturers to improve security of their key-less locking systems.

The current police advice to vehicle owners with key-less locking systems is to keep the spare keys safe in special protective bags – similar to the ones used to protect credit cards.

Chamber members were also concerned to hear about the weakness of many front doors locks and what they should to look out for to beef up security.

PAAC IT business development director Eddie Paterson said: “A few businesses in town were broken into last year in addition to the ATM thefts. I don’t see this as crime against business as being on the increase - more of a blip.

“As the local Chamber of Commerce we have seen the decline of the high street in many towns across the UK and so are being pro-active to keep our own high streets alive.

“A big part of this is of course ensuring that all of us feel safe and secure in our streets, homes and businesses. Last November we welcomed David Munro, Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey and Gary Smith the new Waverley borough commander to talk about policing in Haslemere.

“This most recent event was a follow up with Stephen Cake to talk about crime prevention.”