This is nothing new. We are in an inner city town and these things happen. Just because we've got some nice new coffee bars and trendy shops and a few people coming in from some more expensive areas doesn't mean that these disturbing things will magic themselves away.

I absolutely agree that better policing and cctv in the centre of Forest Hill would deter the opportunistic criminal but I don't hold out too much hope for us having an increased police presence due to their already overstretched resources.

I would be very surprised if there weren't already some initiatives on the table with the FHSoc or other local groups and, whilst this is a subject that lots of people clearly want to sweep under the carpet, it would be very healthy and helpful if we try to keep this thread going as openly as possible with comments and suggestions on how to make things better.

Does anyone know how much it would cost to have a police community support officer patrol of the main town centre area and its alleyways from say 8am to 8pm? Or possibly a private security firm? Perhaps this is something that could be shared funded by government and local businesses (where there's a scale of fees with small shops each paying say £5 per week and businesses like Sainsburys, Barclays, Santander and Wetherspoons pay £100 (thinking about it, for that kinda money we could get a proper Rambo out there!)).

Seriously though, there must be hundreds of ex-servicemen who'd jump at the prospect of earning a decent wage to patrol a nice friendly town like ours, instead of a middle-east war zone. Hopefully Sainsbury's would be able to offer our man respite in their staff canteen etc. I really think this is worth exploring.