FIRST:
I have received this from Anne re her call from Contact Tracing:
Good morning Jeff,
I thought I’d let you know that the call I received from the NHS track and trace telephone number was genuine.
They called again. My daughter at university had tested positive, so they were tracing her contacts.
She is absolutely fine and has no symptoms thankfully.
Its good to know the system works.
Have a good week ! Stay safe and well everyone.
Anne
Thanks Anne - that is reassuring.
JUST IN FROM THE BOROUGH:
Covid 19:
Visit our new coronavirus information and support page
https://www.rbwm.gov.uk/home/council-and-democracy/contact-us/coronavirus-information-and-support:
to read our latest COVID-19 information, including:
A guide to council services that are still in operation during the national lockdown.
Support and help available if you’re self-isolating.
A link to the new Berkshire-wide public health website with the latest COVID-19 data for the county.
While the current COVID-19 restrictions are in place, you should minimise the time spent outside of your home and when you do go out, please remember:
Hands – wash your hands regularly and for at least 20 seconds.
Face – wear a face-covering in indoor settings where social distancing may be difficult, and where you will come into contact with people you do not normally meet.
Space – stay 2 metres apart from people you do not live with where possible, or 1 metre with extra precautions in place such as a face covering.
Help us share our COVID-19 safety messages by circulating this newsletter and our Facebook and Twitter posts with friends, family and any local organisations you may belong to.
Flu vaccine:
Flu can be serious and can be easily spread to those around you who are vulnerable and for whom you have caring responsibilities.
If you receive a carer’s allowance or are the main carer of an older or disabled person, you could be eligible for the free flu vaccination. Ask your pharmacist or GP today if you or the person you care for is eligible for a free vaccine.
Public hearing sessions on the Borough Local Plan continue
The fourth week of public hearing sessions examining the Borough Local Plan, are taking place from 9.30am on Tuesday 17 November until 1.30pm on Thursday 19 November.
The sessions will consider a range of matters and issues including future plans for place making and site allocations in the borough.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the hearing sessions are taking place virtually, meaning that members of the public and other interested parties can observe the discussions online via the council’s YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/WindsorMaidenhead:
Agendas for each day of the hearing sessions can be viewed here.
https://www.rbwm.gov.uk/home/planning/planning-policy/emerging-plans-and-policies/draft-borough-local-plan/examination-local-plan/inspectors-documents A copy of the plan showing the proposed changes can be viewed here:
http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001L-9nHaLWbdrV6iIbQ3Ilwsh5nbD3RAZnXre8RnNUdXr_SfZ53V0ojJMpnxxVIhw6qUji8LpDw0UBimjj_0Nk32JcQjSLGuahsavu_llg8XdlISYeSaUY36sKYqLuGwsaTnLg0XBvU9mPjtFDCqpodTIkCA3dqBt5-UGI6j7LRe4=&c=PGO9LEA7JEqa-xWdkjpjFHUyeht_BVG9Gi3Ukn83Y8A_zAacdEKZQg==&ch=ufdafaO_WoImngnjUmkX5zUOYG46cH-y476CasK3x-Lbl56tTpQHrg== Barnardo’s COVID-19 helpline
The children’s charity Barnardo’s is encouraging Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children, young people and their families who have been affected by COVID-19, to speak to them about their worries, problems and concerns.
Advisors are available Monday to Friday from 1pm to 8pm on 0800 151 2605. They can offer emotional support, advice and signposting to other organisations who can provide further help.
For more information.
https://helpline.barnardos.org.uk/ Making your community a cleaner and safer place to live
Specialist officers have been tackling littering, flytipping and other environmental offences as part of our commitment to make the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead a cleaner and safer place to live, work and visit.
District Enforcement officers have been patrolling your community and environmental hotspots issuing fixed penalty notices to anyone they observe committing, or have evidence of committing, an environmental crime.
Fixed penalty notices can be issued for dropping litter (including cigarette butts), fly tipping and dog fouling.
If you need to report an environmental crime,
http://mol.rbwm.gov.uk/mol/report_it/?report_it=Street%20Cleaning If you have received a fine, you can pay it online,
https://onlinepayments.rbwm.gov.uk/live/webpayments/ml_webpayselect.asp?PT=310 New guide on the linguistics of romance fraud
As part of International Fraud Aware Week, Thames Valley Police’s Economic Crime Unit has launched a new romance fraud e-booklet - which is available from this Link:
https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/police-forces/thames-valley-police/areas/c/2020/a-guide-to-spotting-romance-fraudsters which has been developed in partnership with Dr Carter, a linguistics expert from the University of Roehampton.
This booklet has been designed to demonstrate the clever tactics used by romance scammers with a view to empowering the knowledge of our communities. It also dispels the myths of shame and embarrassment often associated with this crime by highlighting the link to coercive control.
Please share this e-booklet amongst your communities to enable us to remain united through encouragement, education and empowerment.
To view Dr Carter’s complete academic paper that inspired the booklet, please visit
https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azaa072 where it will be available for free for one month from 15 November 2020.
CRIME
I have attached reference numbers to each crime report. If you live in the vicinity of any of the crimes mentioned and have CCTV or a video doorbell, can you please check the footage. If you have any that might be of interest to the police, can you please make contact with us, quoting reference number given.
NEXT: WE HAD AN ATTEMPTED BURGLARY IN WINDSOR OVER THE WEEKEND - THE CRIME PREVENTION ADVICE IS USEFUL FOR EVERYONE:
16/11 Monday 3 a.m. The owners were awoken by a noise and went to investigate. They saw an arm reaching though the front door, which had been forced, to remove the door chain. They shouted, the arm was withdrawn and the offender ran off to a waiting car, which made off at speed. No entry gained and nothing stolen. What do you do, if you hear a noise and believe someone has broken into your home ? YOU DO NOT PICK UP A WEAPON AND GO TO CONFRONT THEM ! What you do, is turn on lights, turn on a radio up loud, to let anyone inside your home know, that you are aware of their presence. Put a chair against any door handle / lock your door. Shout loudly - ‘Johnny - release the dogs’ - even if you don’t have any ! Call the police - dial 999, reporting a possible ‘crime in progress’. Never - never confront a possible opportunist thief. They will be high on adrenaline and unpredictable. Leave that to the police !
I have added a new email address below. The first email address is directly to your local Neighbourhood Team. The second is to our investigation team. Please use it to send any intelligence / video doorbell / CCTV footage you may have, which is relevant to any of the crimes lists below - quoting the reference number.
Alternatively you can call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or email -
www.crimestoppers-uk.org MAIDENHEAD CENTRAL:
maidenheadcentralgeographical@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukSR.windsor&
maidenhead@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk13/11 Friday midnight / 7 a.m. College Glen. Corrosive substance poured over a car. Ref. No: 43200374855
13/11 - 16/11 Friday 5.15 p.m. / Monday 9 a.m. School, Cookham Roaad. Shed door pulled from hinges. Leaf blower and pressure washer stolen. Ref. No: 43200378602
7/11 - 16/11 Pintail Way. Car entered by unknown means - CDs stolen. Ref. No: 43200378992
RIVERSIDE & BELMONT:
NO CRIME TO REPORT.
MAIDENHEAD WEST
maidenheadwestgeographical@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukSR.windsor&
maidenhead@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukBISHAM, COOKHAM, HURLEY, THE WALTHAMS, LITTLEWICK GREEN & KNOWL HILL:
NO CRIME TO REPORT.
PINKNEYS GREEN & FURZE PLATT:
14/11 - 15/11 Saturday 7 p.m. / Sunday 11 a.m. Kingdom Park. Transporter van driver’s window smashed - fuel card and loose change stolen. Ref. No: 43200377501
16/11 Monday 0.50 a.m. / 9.30 a.m. Barn Close. Car on drive, entered by unknown means and searched - loose change stolen. Ref. No: 43200378697
MAIDENHEAD SOUTH
maidenheadsouthgeographical@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukSR.windsor&
maidenhead@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukBOYN HILL, COX GREEN & WOODLANDS PARK:
12/11 - 13/11 Thursday 7.30 p.m. / Friday 9 a.m. Altwood Drive. The owner returned and believed they dropped their car keys on the drive. In the morning they found the car searched - Nothing stolen. Ref. No: 43200374584
13/11 Friday 5.10 a.m. / 5.15 a.m. Altwood Drive. Video footage shows a man walking onto the drive, opening the car door and searching it inside. Nothing stolen. Ref. No: 43200375516
14/11 Saturday 4 a.m. Lees Close. Video footage shows a man walking onto a Neighbour’s drive and trying the car door handles. They then walk onto the aggrieved’s drive and opens and searches the 2 cars parked there. Nothing stolen. He is described as white, male, 6’, grey tracksuit, white beanie hat and a black backpack. Ref. No: 43200375922
14/11 - 15/11 Saturday 10.30 p.m. / Sunday 7.30 a.m. Lower Boyndon Road / Laburnham Road. Car window smashed - jacket stolen. Ref. No: 43200377229
OLDFIELD, BRAY & HOLYPORT:
15/11 Sunday 1.40 a.m. Holyport Road. Attempted shop break-in. 3 offenders pulled up is a small Audi hatchback and tried to force open the shop shutters. They were disturbed by a witness and immediately, jumped back in the car and drove off at speed towards Windsor Road. No entry gained and nothing stolen. Ref. No: 43200377015
13/11 Friday Noon / 12.20 p.m. Golf Range, Braywick Park. Attempted van break. Both side doors attacked, but no entry gained. Ref. No: 43200374635
MEMBERS’ COMMENTS:
FIRST: From Carole - A DVLA Scam email.
It wasn’t personally addressed and this was the first 2 lines:
W e ha ve be en info rmed ……..The whole email reads like this. Apparently her car tax had expired and the DVLA could not get the payment from her account.
I copied a line of text into this email, but decided to shorten it, in case your virus protection picked it up. When I deleted most of it - it took several deletions to remove each of the spaces between the letters - so, though they looked like spaces, there was something hidden in there ! If you get anything like this -
JUST BIN IT
NEXT: an update on the Virgin scam texts:
Hi Jeff,
I also received a similar text from “Virgin” as detailed in your newsletter.
I had to think about it for a minute, as I do have a savings account with Virgin.
I did delete the text, as I realised Virgin would not contact me in this way.
Thanks to all your warnings re. Scams , I am very cautious.
Keep up the good work,
Regards, Rosemary
Thanks Rosemary - everyone needs to be on the guard - stop, think, and breathe before responding !
NEXT: More calls supposedly from HMRC threatening to have people arrested for non payment of tax:
Hi
My mum had lots of calls from an official claiming to be from HMRC. That she owed money and that they will arrest her if she didn’t pay.
Mandy
Thanks Mandy,
Please reassure your mother that this is a scam. She will not be arrested. The phone calls can be very threatening – and frightening !
