Episode 1 Neighbourhood Blues

Policing in the 21st century has come full circle.

Good evening, all.

The old romantic notion of the bobby on the beat,

like Sergeant George Dixon 50 years ago, is very much back in favour.

See her.

A new caring force has been created that works in collaboration

with the community it serves called the Neighbourhood Policing Team.

You're under arrest, OK, for assault.

Now the teams are in every local area of the country.

Get him! We've got a runner.

Cracking down on anti-social behaviour.

-Stay here.

-Ow!

-I've had enough.

Busting suspected drug dens.

Come out where I can see you!

-There's a very, very large grow in this room.

-Jackpot.

-And laying down the law to crooks and criminals.

-Do as you're told.

-I weren't even

-BLEEP

-driving it!

In this new series of Neighbourhood Blues, we're following the men

-and women from the Humberside Police Force.

-You're under arrest.

I'm arresting you for possession of a controlled substance.

As they strive to make our streets a safer place.

-Coming up...

-I've got him if you want to pat him down.

..the neighbourhood team catch a gobby phone thief...

What you got my arms up there for?

I don't know what else you've got on you.

Well, you best let go because it's BLEEP hurting!

..crack down on the growing problem of new media being used

to cause harassment...

-Do you understand what I've said to your dad then, Ryan?

-Yeah.

-It needs to stop.

-Yeah.

-All right?

..and join forces with Fire and Rescue Services

to save a couple's live.

-Oh, my God!

-It's all right, don't worry.

Beating burglars is one of the main priorities

for Humberside Police's neighbourhood teams.

They recently launched an intensive crackdown, which last year saw

burglaries cut by 12%.

But as a result of their focus on house crime, it appears

thieves are turning their attention to easier, unoccupied targets.

It's nine o'clock in the evening

and Sergeant Carl Sweeting is responding to an incident

at a remote property just north of Bridlington in East Yorkshire.

Whisky two zero, I've got the van, I'll make my way up there.

There's been a burglary and it would appear the car trying to make off

has collided with another vehicle.

It appears the burglar's car has crashed while trying to get away.

Skel is up there at the minute with another local patrol. He's...

I think he's just talking to them at the minute,

they've got an injured child.

The crash has taken place in a quiet country lane

near a local beauty spot.

It's been a head-on, the front of the car's totalled.

-A little kid has gone into the back of the seat.

-Is he all right?

It's a little girl.

Are you hurt anywhere? Don't nod your head. Just keep nice and still.

-Where do you hurt?

-My nose.

Your nose? Anywhere else?

Fortunately, she was wearing a seat belt or her injuries

could have been far worse.

Shockingly, she was a passenger in the getaway car, which was hit

fleeing the scene of the burglary.

There's a shop around the corner.

A confectionery shop, which has been entered.

The vehicle used to get away is this one here, that's all stoved in.

The son of the owner came the other way, there was a head-on collision.

Although we have got offences,

primarily we're just sorting people out for injuries.

Obviously our main concern at the minute is this little girl

who's nine years old, has been involved in a head-on collision, quite a hefty impact as well.

The girl's 12-year-old brother was also in the car

with their father at the wheel.

He was in the back of that police car there and his son

and his daughter have been travelling in this car here.

-BLEEP

-and his son, I believe,

have broken into a kiosk around the corner.

They've tried to make good their escape in this vehicle.

That alarm has gone off and the son of the owner of the shop has

come round this street and there's been a road traffic collision.

Graham has then reversed back down here, we've been called,

and we're just trying to pick up the pieces of what's gone on.

Carl now heads to the kiosk to talk to its owner.

Having been burgled before, he'd installed an alarm system

and CCTV, which captured the whole incident on camera.

He walked across with the lad, they gave that door a good kicking,

as you can see. He did.

They first tried to gain entry by kicking the door in,

but to no avail.

Came back again wearing gloves, all hooded up and that.

And then they opened it up.

Next, they force open the kiosk's shutters and,

with security bars on the window,

the father sends his son in to try and open the door from the inside.

But the boy can't get the door open, so his father also

makes his way in through the window and over the security bars.

The owner has already been alerted by the alarm

and arrives less than five minutes after the burglars gained entry.

Realising there was someone inside,

he grabs a torch from his van to help him see what was going on.

As soon as the burglars spot the light,

they make their escape, forcing their way out of the window

and past the owner, before legging it to their car.

This old guy has been here a few years, trying to run his own

business and someone comes and thinks they can just take it away like that.

And it causes upset obviously to him,

damage to his property that he's got to repair

and there's obviously always concern with being so isolated here

in a beauty spot, people are going to come down and burgle it so...

The burglar's nine-year-old daughter was injured in the crash.

An ambulance has arrived to take her to Scarborough Hospital.

-Right, you first.

-Mind your fingers, darling.

She isn't the only casualty, though.

The father has just told officers that he is also in pain.

He's complaining of some neck and back pain at the minute,

which he wasn't doing to start with, but he's just developed it.

Ambulance is just going to extract him from our vehicle.

Luckily from our side, they don't have to take the roof off either.

Meanwhile, Carl and the kiosk owner assess

the aftermath of the break-in.

The burglars have caused several hundred pounds' worth of damage

getting in. All for the sake of a few bars of chocolate.

I don't get too emotional about it.

If it was breaking into my house, it would be a different thing.

Down here, it just seems to be a war between people who just

want to break in and pinch a Mars Bar or a chocolate bar,

that's about all they get. There's nothing of any value.

But it's damage that they do.

Mark has made a discovery in one of the bins near the kiosk.

It looks like a smashed-up fruit machine.

CCTV captured the pair dumping it in the bin before carrying out

the break-in.

We believe this is from a burglary to a licensed premises

in Bridlington town

overnight last night, where they've broken in and stolen

the fruit machine from there.

I'll do the honours, then.

Back at the crash scene, Mark is arresting the father

and his 12-year-old son.

At this minute in time, you're both locked up on suspicion of burglary.

It's all come together quite nice, there's a lot more digging to do.

A lot more work to go on, and hopefully the end result will be

I charge both of these for at least one burglary, if not two.

It's not every day 12-year-olds get arrested.

But, sadly, it's not even the first time this lad's been in trouble.

He's already on our radar.

Unfortunately, he's not been helped by the upbringing he's had

but he's obviously led by his father quite a lot, by the looks of it.

I'm amazed somebody has come out

and done a burglary with a child in the vehicle.

Anyone in their right mind would be shocked by it.

People get involved in drugs and get desperate and do burglaries

and things like that, but to take your children along with you...

Gobsmacked, really. It's just disgusting.

It'll be taken into account when he goes to court.

The modern day Fagan and his son are taken to hospital for a checkup

while his car is seized for evidence.

Later, having been given the all clear,

father and son are now facing the music at Bridlington Police Station.

-That makes you 12, does it?

-Yeah.

It's a shame for him, isn't it?

There he is, 12 years old, hardly tall enough to see over

the custody bar and yet here he is in custody.

Don't get me wrong, if he's committed an offence then

he needs to be dealt with in interview,

but with a role model like that -

when asked what his occupation is he introduced himself as a burglar -

you question what opportunities he'll have put before him in life.

The father later pleaded guilty to burglary

and possession of stolen property.

He's currently awaiting his day in court.

His son was given a youth rehabilitation order

and supervision requirement for six months.

Sharing information and addressing people's concerns

about crime are vital for community policing to work.

Now, Humberside Police, with the username @humberbeat,

have started using the social networking site Twitter to keep

the public updated about what they're doing

and whom they've arrested.

It's Bank Holiday Monday.

And while his colleague PC Andy Derbyshire drives the car,

Special Constable Andy Pashley is tweeting on his phone.

-I've just sent my first tweet.

-Good lad.

Yeah, I've put "Patrolling of the northern area, glorious day,

"lots of barbecues and families enjoying the sun.

"Everything is in order. #specialconstable6882. #sun."

Humberside Police have a Twitter account.

Officers have access to this account and we like to tweet general

day-to-day, on our patrols, et cetera, let the public of Hull know

what we're getting up to and what's happening in their areas.

It's all part of an effort to improve the team's relationship

with the public, which in turn they hope will lead

to increased crime detection.

Social media and the police can be used quite effectively,

we've had a couple of occasions where we've had missing persons

where details have been put out on Facebook by friends

and family and who knows, it might lead to that person being found.

-An urgent call's just come in.

-What's that coming in, for assault?

-All of them.

-It's time to do some old-fashioned policing.

They've been called to back up their colleagues, who have stopped

three youths suspected of launching an attack on a man at a party

before stealing his phone.

I've got him, if you want to pat him down. What's your name, young man?

-Craig Bailey.

-All right. You know why you've been stopped?

The trio have been accused of assault and theft of the phone,

but this chap's saying it's the other way around.

-I've just been kicked in the head by someone for no reason.

-OK.

We'll get to that in a minute. Just bear with us.

-Good lad.

-He's come quietly, unlike one of the others.

-I didn't say with intent, did I?

-You best not be as well! Muppet!

Wake up. You're the muppet.

-Who the

-BLEEP

-do you think you are,

-BLEEP?

-No.

-What are you doing?!

-You don't need to be like that.

-What was that for?

-That was out of order, wasn't it?

-Shut up!

-That was out of order!

-Shut up!

-I won't shut up.

-You will.

-That's bang out of order.

-What are you doing?

-I don't know what else you've got on you.

I ain't got nothing else on me! Search me, you muppet.

-BLEEP

-search me! Rat!

The lad's claims of innocence don't seem to have much basis,

as a search of his pockets has found what looks to be

-the stolen phone and some cannabis.

-Have you got anything else on you?

No, I haven't! What you got my arms up there for?

I don't know what else you've got on you, do I?

-You best let go because it's

-BLEEP

-hurting!

-Calm down, then.

-Let go then, you muppet!

-Calm down, then.

-No, I won't let go.

-I won't calm down. Let me

-BLEEP

-go.

-We've got all three on assault and theft now then.

-Yeah. All three.

-Right, OK.

-What is this all about? For no reason at all.

You're getting locked up for robbery, drugs and everything.

-What do you think I'm doing that for?

-What do you mean, drugs?

-Jump inside.

-There. Sit down.

-BLEEP! BLEEP!

Nice(!)

BLEEP!

As the noise dies down following the mouthy youth's departure,

Andy deal is with his detainee, who is still claiming he's been hit.

Right, what's happening at the moment is, you've been locked up

under suspicion of assault and robbery.

So what will my assaulter face, mate?

It's something we can sort out once we've sorted out this one, OK?

If you've done nothing wrong, you'll be released with my apologies.

But at the end of the day, I haven't locked you up,

-all I'm doing is transporting you.

-I know you are.

All right. So, I haven't got a clue really what's...

The victim's side of the story will make things a lot clearer,

as we'll see later.

Theft from shops costs retailers newly £2 billion a year in the UK.

But it's not just the stores that bear the brunt of the losses.

It's reckoned shoplifting costs us

all an extra £180 a year on our shopping bills.

It's Saturday afternoon and Sergeant Caroline Andrews and

PC Nick Deacon are on their way to a supermarket in the north of Hull.

At the moment we've had reports of a 15-year-old female

that's been detained after a shop theft of £45 worth of items,

so we're just going to go down and see what's going on.

Some shoplifting is carried out by organised gangs,

but mostly it's petty criminals stealing small items

and it's the neighbourhood teams that have to deal with them

on a daily basis.

I don't think shoplifters get enough punishment

because they keep coming back and thieving more.

All that's doing is just putting the shop prices up,

so it spirals everywhere, it affects us all. You know?

Caroline and Nick have made their way to a room at the back

of the supermarket, where the shoplifting suspect is being held.

We've got a little one as well.

The girl has got her younger sister with her.

-How old are you, young lady?

-15.

She's been caught on camera stealing things.

We monitored these two on CCTV.

-She knew she was doing it.

-She knew she was doing it? How old are you?

11.

I think you're a little bit little to be doing anything...

And it all comes to £45.98.

The neighbourhood team take a hard line against shoplifters

no matter what their age.

-Are you sisters?

-Yes.

-Yes?

She's been crying, but she's shown no remorse whatsoever.

-How often have you done it before?

-Never.

-Never?

What made you do it today then?

You don't know?

PC ANDREWS: Is there going to be somebody at home?

GIRL: Probably.

Who is going to be at home? Your dad?

If there is no-one at home, you'll go in a cell.

So I suggest you change your attitude

and start thinking what you've done is serious

and you could be put in a cell for the rest of the day.

Do you understand that?

Yeah.

Right, well, show us if you're bothered. Sit up.

Because of their ages,

Caroline and Nick have decided to take the girls home

and have a word with their parents rather than take them into custody.

We won't be thanked for taking a 15-year-old into custody who

has never been in trouble with the police before, she's never

come to our notice for anything whatsoever,

so at the end of the day the best policy is, we'll take home,

speak to her in front of her parents,

invite her in for interview at a later date, unless she doesn't

change her attitude, in which case she might go in a police cell

because she really doesn't seem to be bothered at the moment.

Even being in the back of a police car doesn't appear to have changed

the older girl's attitude.

She's 11 years old, of course she's upset.

And that's through your doing, so don't be telling her she

doesn't need to be upset, you need to change your behaviour.

GIRL: She's not in trouble, is she?

I'm sure your parents won't be happy with either of you, will they?

So a little bit of sympathy towards your sister wouldn't go amiss.

The girls are about to be shamed in front of their mother,

a tactic Caroline and Nick hope will have an effect on the 15-year-old.

-Hello, me love.

-We've got two things that belong to you.

Can we come in and have a little chat?

One little one who knew what was going on,

and one big one that was thieving.

Now, I'm not going to be dealing with the little one because

the little one didn't do anything, although she has guilty knowledge.

If she was a bit older,

she would be in trouble the same as big sister would be.

She's got no remorse for what she's done,

she doesn't seem to care.

If you get into trouble, young lady, between now and getting this sorted,

you really are in trouble because it will go to court.

Do you understand that?

Court can put restrictions on where you go,

what you do and how you behave.

And if you don't stick to those, you will keep getting arrested

and put in the cells until you learn to behave yourself.

Do you understand that?

You're in trouble with your parents, live with it.

When you're out and about with your friends,

we'll be looking for you, simple as, to see what you're up to.

See what... At the minute, in our eyes, putting it nicely,

you're a thief, in our eyes. So that puts you on our radar.

So we'll be paying special attention to you to see what you're up to.

Nick and Caroline hope their strong words will sink in

and this will be the girls' first and only brush with the law.

OK?

'They need telling.

'They need telling bluntly that what they're doing is wrong.

'She had a very poor attitude to start with,

'she was starting to show a bit more remorse once we were in the house,'

but you've got to be firm with them.

They've got to understand what they've done is wrong

and they're very lucky that they're not sat in a cell for the rest of the afternoon.

Because that's where, on another day, she would be sat.

The girl was interviewed at the police station two days later

along with her mum, and was given a rehabilitation order.

Neighbourhood officers in Hull have arrested three youths

who are suspected of attacking a man and stealing his phone.

One in particular has been very vocal in protesting his innocence.

What is this all about? For no reason at all!

Back at the station, the mouthy youth appears to have calmed down.

-What you got to seize my clothes for?

-Just because of the offence.

But that soon changes.

The officers need to take his clothes to use

as evidence in identifying him, and he's not too happy about it.

-BLEEP

-take them!

-Get the

-BLEEP

-out of my cell now!

Get out of my cell and close that door!

-BLEEP!

-What are you doing?

-Get on the floor, OK. Now stop being silly.

-I'm not being silly.

-You are being silly.

Are you going to put your blue suit on or not?

-Are you going to put your blue suit on?

-Go on!

Yeah, go on, squeeze it a bit harder. Go on. I dare you.

-Go on, squeeze it.

-Mate...

-Squeeze it. Squeeze it.

-Do you want your fingerprints taken or not?

-Squeeze it. Squeeze it.

Stand up.

HE CONTINUES SWEARING

Basically he just didn't like the fact that we were going in there

and seizing his clothing. Just don't like it.

They think they're not going to get them back ever,

so sometimes, if it's an ongoing court case, they might not get

their clothes for a while, so we end up looking after them.

As the officers bag up the evidence, the man who has allegedly been

set upon has arrived at the station and he's sporting a few injuries.

We were at a barbecue and some random people turned up.

Then started getting into...

One of the guys started getting in the face of one of the girls.

And it ended up in, like, a bit of a scrap.

But, like, he started punching me for no reason.

Then I lost my phone, they took my phone and that's it,

basically, in a nutshell.

Even though the police have found his phone, the man won't be able

to take it home as it's also being kept as evidence.

Right, it's wrapped. It's your phone.

One person who still does have his phone is Andy, who is now back

on Twitter, letting all his followers know

what's been going on.

Obviously now I'm doing my second tweet with regards to a result

that we've just had.

I've put on Twitter, "Three males in custody.

"#6882, #IRT and #result"

and I've sent that to all the Twitter feeds for Humberside.

So obviously members of the public can see it

and obviously celebrate our success.

-A few minutes later, Andy's message has spread to the higher ranks.

-Ah!

Our Chief Constable has re-tweeted my tweet with regards to the

three males in custody, and says,

"The special site for the South Bank."

It's a good result.

With three people in custody, and a stolen phone recovered,

it's been a good day's work.

One of the men later pleaded guilty to assault and was fined £205.

The mouthy youth pleaded guilty to theft and cannabis possession

and was fined £215.

The third youth was released without charge.

While new methods of communication can help the police,

they can also cause problems.

Harassment via text message or Facebook is now a crime

and one the neighbourhood teams are coming across

on an increasingly regular basis.

The two Andys are on their way to visit a man who has been accused

of sending abusive texts

and Facebook messages to his ex-wife and her new partner.

-Hi, is it Jason? Hi, Jason. You got a minute?

-Come on in.

-Cheers.

The man's son is also involved. He's taken his dad's side

and has been sending similar messages to his mum's partner.

Do you want to have a quick sit down and we can have a quick chat

about it, then? So, you know why we're here.

-I've been expecting you.

-OK.

It's to do with some text messages, Facebook messages,

and some phone calls that apparently Susan and her husband Michael...

Is it Michael? Michael, yeah, have been receiving from yourselves.

Now, we understand that there has been a bit of to'ing and fro'ing.

You've got messages, they've got messages,

-they've replied, you've replied.

-Mine aren't threatening.

The mother and her partner have saved some of the messages

which were sent to them by the son.

-"All you do is give it over

-BLEEP,

-now

-BLEEP

-off you

-BLEEP,"

blah blah blah, and it just goes on and on. OK.

If anything got said against me, like, saying I've threatened them

-I can go through all my messages there.

-Right.

And I can prove to you that I didn't threaten them.

Somebody somewhere, I don't know if it's yourself, Jase,

or Ryan, has actually sent messages back.

-Have you sent any threatening...?

-I've sent them. I'll admit that.

-You've sent threatening messages?

-Yeah.

-They give it to me, so I'll give it back to them.

-Right, OK.

-Do you understand what I've said to your dad then, Ryan?

-Yeah.

It needs to stop, all right? Is there some issue regarding Facebook?

-I've blocked them.

-The bane of my life is Facebook, it really is.

-She's blocked me on Facebook now, so...

-They've got me back.

-OK.

What I would suggest is you just delete them.

I keep trying but they just keep coming back up!

Because you can message people on Facebook without being friends.

Right. If you get an account come through that you're not happy with -

cos I think you have to accept it, don't you - just bin it off.

If you don't know them or you think it's a bit dodgy,

then just sack it off, just get rid of it.

So if they don't stop, the topless texters risk being arrested.

And the same applies for the other pair involved.

To protect you and Ryan, I'm going to recommend the same for Michael

and Susan, I'm going to issue you both with a harassment warning.

If it continues, you make a complaint, they're liable to arrest.

They make a complaint, you're liable to arrest.

So if they don't stop, the topless texters risk being arrested

-and the same applies for the other couple involved.

-All right.

-So are you happy with that?

-I am, yeah.

-Super duper.

Don't communicate, unless you've got something specific,

whether it's something to do with your family or something, where you need to get in touch with them,

don't have any correspondence whatsoever.

-All I'll need is a signature from you there, please.

-No problem.

Sensible policing

and good advice looked to have led to a positive outcome.

-You understand everything?

-I certainly do.

-Happy with what we've discussed?

-I am.

-No problem. Thanks.

Some people take it good, some people take it bad.

On this occasion they've took it quite good.

Sometimes once you give the harassment warning it gives a bit

of a heads up to the pair to think, "Hang on, it's gone a bit far, this,

"if the police are involved."

Sometimes they just pay lip service to it

and it'll carry on regardless.

They might even just get another person to do it

or an unregistered mobile phone, but once we start getting evidence

like that, we can do a bit of digging

and if it comes back to the person who has been issued the warning,

then obviously we can deal with it appropriately.

Neighbourhood policing teams aren't just there to fight crime.

Because of their high profile and large numbers,

they're regularly called in to work alongside their colleagues

from the other two emergency services.

Mark Skelton's just had a call about a serious incident

a few streets away from Bridlington Police Station.

Report of three...

I think they said three persons, essentially trapped...

..in a house fire.

On arrival, Mark and the other members of his team are immediately

put to work.

Police officer,

can you stop the traffic coming down this road for me, please?

The fire has taken a hold on the first floor,

trapping some residents on the top floor.

Fire Brigade are just working on the fire.

We're going to put some road closures on. In fact, I'm just going to go

and block the road with the van.

Officers are keeping the area around the house clear

for the firefighters, even though one of its occupants has returned.

I don't know a lot about it myself

because I've only just come back from the cafe around the corner

and I haven't even been in the house. Apparently there's a fire started.

They suspect it might be my room, so...

It's a first floor fire and the Fire Brigade are going in now

to try and get the two out from the top.

Lads, it's this window here. This window. That apex.

Two people are trapped in a top-floor flat

and there's too much smoke for them to get out through the house.

The only way for the firefighters to rescue them

is by putting a ladder up to their window.

Nice and steady, lads, nice and steady.

Inside the smoke and soot-filled house, the firefighters,

using breathing apparatus, are searching, room by room,

for anyone else that may still be trapped inside.

The only way out for the couple is down the ladder.

It's something the firefighters practise all the time

but rarely do for real.

They are around 25 feet up. The slightest slip could be fatal.

As the woman makes her way down the ladder,

the fire really begins to take hold.

Right, somebody, back up there, bring him down.

And, approaching the ambulance, a window blows out.

GLASS SHATTERS Oh, my God!

It's all right, don't worry.

It's all right.

She's terrified her partner is still trapped.

But, thankfully, the firefighters have managed to rescue him, too.

Yeah, as you can see, there was a lot of panic at the top there.

Obviously the quick actions of the neighbour, the quick and efficient

actions of the fire brigade saved two persons' lives in this situation.

It's very rare that we get an incident of this magnitude.

Looking at the fire and the way the window blew out through that,

very, very lucky indeed.

It's a miraculous outcome to what could have so easily have been a disaster.

Well done. You've done ever so well.

The two casualties that were rescued from the upper floor have

both inhaled some smoke.

They were very lucky to get out in the time they did

due to the efforts of the fire service.

The way the conditions were in there, the smoke was so accurate,

a mouthful of that and you'd certainly have enough.

The couple are rushed to hospital.

Although they don't appear to be too seriously injured,

they're not taking any chances.

They're suffering some smoke inhalation at the moment,

ambulance have said that that can change rapidly

and patients with that diagnosis can go downhill very quickly.

Now the blaze is under control,

thoughts are turning to what caused the fire.

The police are cordoning the house off to preserve the scene.

It's come in as a fire of doubtful origin,

so we don't know how and why it's started.

It's going to take a little bit of time to work out

if it's accidental or it's a deliberate arson.

Obviously potentially...

life-changing consequences.

Fire investigators will have to sift through the remains of the

burnt-out building before they can confirm exactly what the cause was,

while the neighbourhood team do their best to keep people

informed of what's going on.

We've had a word with a few of the local residents,

just to reassure the community

that it's an isolated incident within the premises,

and as such it will be assessed fully in the morning.

Just give a bit of community reassurance.

From a neighbourhood perspective, it's job done.

The IR will do the scene guard overnight

and we'll pick it up in the morning.

The inside has been made safe and Chris,

the occupant of the room where the fire started,

has turned up to survey the damage to his home.

It's not nice. Not nice at all. Erm...

It's like...

Emotionally, I don't think I've taken it on board fully yet.

Chris has lost most of his belongings,

including one thing which he really held dear.

My teddy bear.

My teddy bear was bigger than me when I first had it and...

now it's...

It's charcoal.

Erm... Yeah.

There is some good news, though.

The couple who were rescued earlier are fine.

Fire investigators will return to the house in the morning to

hopefully establish the cause of the fire.

Disputes between neighbours have a nasty habit of getting out of hand.

Often the best way to resolve them quickly is through a third party,

something the neighbourhood team is quite used to doing.

Tonight in central Hull, Nick Deacon and Lucy Giles have been called in

to mediate an argument between a young mother and her neighbour,

who she says threatened her.

We've got a dispute with the neighbours over something.

They are known to us, yes.

Nick has dealt with the feuding families before

and knows it's nothing serious.

Nick's met by the girl who called in and a friend whose house

she is on the way round to.

Her mum said that I've got to go to her house cos she doesn't want me...

-And my mum will make you a brew.

-That sounds like a good idea.

Shirley. You know Shirley.

I know Shirley. I know who you are, too, so don't panic.

The girl, Danielle,

explains the argument concerns her three-month-old baby.

How it all started was somebody, a few weeks ago,

rang social services on me.

Danielle thinks her neighbour has been stirring things up

by reporting her for mistreating her baby after

-she put it in a buggy that caused a bruise.

-I only did it once

and she ended up getting a little mark on her shoulder,

and obviously she ended up finding out across the road.

-She? Who's she?

-Amanda.

Social services came round to my house and they marked it all up,

and they said that they even think it's from the buggy.

They believed...

It seems there's little love lost between Danielle

and Amanda from across the street.

She turned round, started gobbing,

"If you've got owt to F-ing say, say it to my face."

And I said to her, I went, "Look, I've got my baby with me."

My little girl, she's only three months old.

My little girl was crying and I was like, "Look, just get away.

-"I've got my baby with me."

-So, when did this happen?

Just five minutes ago.

Five, ten minutes ago when I was on the way to the shop.

What do you want me to do today then?

Well...

I don't think it's fair that she can have a go at people

and intimidate people, make them feel scared.

I'll go across and speak to her, and tell her it's got to stop.

What you and your neighbours need to do is,

all your neighbours need to get together with the council,

and they all need to report her.

If they breathe at the wrong time the council need to know.

They'll demote the tenancy and they'll get rid of them,

and they're quite good at doing it.

The threat of eviction is a very really incentive for tenants

to stay out of trouble.

We'll go across and speak to them.

We'll come back in a minute and have words with you.

After Danielle's account, it's time for Nick

and Lucy to hear the other side of the story...

..if they can get somebody to answer the door.

Nick's patience is wearing thin.

-Sorry.

-I've got to say, I'm knocking on the door and nobody's there,

-so I got a bit... Is it Amanda?

-Yeah. Yeah.

-Can we come in and have a word with you?

-Yeah. Yeah.

-I ain't got a clue.

-You sit down.

They're blaming me for bringing social services...

I appreciate all that.

Well, the thing is, I haven't.

I'll go back... I'll go back and tell them you haven't.

Amanda's adamant she's done nothing wrong.

All Nick can do is warn both households to keep

out of each other's way.

Ignore them. Find your concern, just ignore them.

Just ignore them.

Today it stops.

See you later.

We've gone across there.

It's tit for tat, tittle-tattling and having a go at each other.

They're never going to get on with each other in a month of Sundays.

We're never going to resolve it in five minutes.

We've told her to back off and leave it out.

We're going to tell her to do the same,

and just reassure Shirley who lives here that there isn't any

problem between them. So...

We'll just go and see how that goes. I've told her it's got to stop now.

-As of today, whatever's been going on stops.

-Yeah.

-Full stop.

Nick's just about got the case wrapped up,

but all of a sudden there's a problem.

-My cat! You're sat on my cat.

-Get up.

CAT MEOWS

Have you killed it? SHE LAUGHS

Where is it? - I can hear it.

-I can hear it meowing.

-I can hear it.

-Is she underneath the sofa or the chair?

-I don't know.

Do you think I've crushed her?

-I think you might have.

-Oh, no.

What if I've killed her?

Oh, I crushed her!

-It is. Get out!

-Sorry!

The cat was underneath the sofa

and has just about escaped being crushed.

Luckily, she's still got a few lives left.

"You've sat on the cat." I thought, "I didn't feel anything."

-The Earth didn't move for me.

-It's all right.

I've told her it's got to stop.

-Now there's another problem.

-Oh, no!

-Right. Have you just rubbed your eyebrow off?

-Yeah.

SHE LAUGHS

Can you...?

Can you make sure that, from now on, just ignore her?

-If she says hello pleasantly, just say hi back pleasantly.

-Yeah.

Otherwise, as far as you're concerned, she doesn't exist.

Ignore her. Just keep it quiet and see if we can calm things down.

CAT MEOWS Hello, flat cat.

-I know.

-I can't believe you sat on the cat.

You sat on it as well! Come on, then. We're going to go.

I've got to let Shirley get snuggled in bed.

I'm not. I'm going to find my cat and check it properly.

No criminal offence has taken place, so there's no action for Nick

to take, but he will monitor the situation in the future.

Earlier, officers attended a fire at a house in Bridlington.

-Oh, my God!

-All right.

Firefighters rescued two people from an upstairs flat,

but thankfully no-one was seriously injured.

It's the morning after the night before

and PCSO Liam Whittington is in charge of keeping

the scene secure for fire investigators,

and letting local people know what's happened.

It also gives us a chance for local residents in an area,

who may not be aware of an incident that's taken place.

They can come and ask questions.

Sometimes it can be very limited answers that we can give,

but at least we can alert people, while we're in the area,

to try and give them some reassurance as well.

It isn't thought that the fire was started deliberately,

but fire investigators and police crime scene officers are sifting

through the ashes to see if they can find any clues.

While the investigators do their work,

Liam entertains a group of curious children.

Bit of a play area, really, isn't it?

Something like this, it attracts them,

so I think it's important just

so that we make sure we give these guys a service that we hold a vigil.

The investigators think a computer may have been

the source of the blaze,

so they're taking it in for a proper examination.

Once the fire investigators are finished,

Chris, the former occupant of the room, is allowed in.

It's the first time he's seen the damage in daylight.

HE SIGHS

Well...

I'm glad that I was out.

I'm really glad that those upstairs got out by the fire service,

who seemed very, very prompt and efficient on the matter.

Emotionally, I think

this room is a fairly good reflection of how I feel.

He thinks that a device plugged into his computer caught on fire

and set the blaze off.

The battery overheated, fired out, which would have landed here

cos that's where my computer was approximately.

And that would have caught onto the bed, which was a plastic bed,

which sent the fire coming that way.

There's the drawer of the chimney there,

which would have brought the flames that way.

Remarkably, some precious things have survived.

Puppeteer Chris will be able to carry on working.

This is Mr Punch.

-HIGH PITCHED:

-Hello, boys and girls.

Judy. She needs her hat back on.

-HIGH PITCHED:

-It's a bit smoky round here, isn't it, boys and girls?

I've still got a working puppet show and that's good.

When they completed their examination of the fire scene,

the investigators concluded that the cause was an accidental

ignition by unknown means.

The war against crime is a relentless challenge,

but it's one the neighbourhood policing teams have risen to

and can proudly say they've had a major impact on.

Join us again next time.