CAR parks in Worcester have successfully passed an annual safety inspection.

Crime prevention officers from West Mercia police recently visited the Worcester Park-and-Ride North, Tallow Hill and St Martin's Gate car parks to assess aspects such as lighting, signage, surveillance, vehicle access, crime levels and user safety.

After concluding that they met the criteria of the national safer parking scheme, the facilities were awarded the scheme's Park Mark.

There are now 11 car parks in Worcester that have been awarded the Park Mark. They are: * Blackpole Retail Park * Cattle Market, Croft Road * Clare Street, CrownGate * King Street * Pitchcroft Road * St Martin's Gate * Tallow Hill * Worcester North PC Michael Stephenson, the crime risk manager for south Worcestershire, who assessed the car parks, said finding a safe and secure place to park can be a cause for concern for many drivers.

"The safer parking award scheme is designed to reduce some of this concern by providing drivers with a comprehensive list of car parks that make a real effort to protect the cars that are parked in them," he said.

"Worcester City Council is committed to developing safer car parks and has worked hard to bring their parking facilities up to standard. There are a significant number of car parks that have been awarded the Park Mark as a result."

PC Stephenson added that, as well as choosing safe places to park, drivers can reduce their chances of becoming a victim of crime by not leaving valuables on show.

"This includes shopping, mobile phones, and sat nav equipment.

"If you have a sat nav system make sure you wipe away the tell tale sucker marks on the window and don't hide the equipment in your glove compartment, a thief will check there if they decide to break into your car."

To find out more about the safer parking award, visit www.securedcarparks.com what do you think of worcester's car parks?

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