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Police advise caution over spate of opportunist thefts

At last week’s Community Council meeting the issue of break-ins was raised with attending Police reps.

A number of bikes have been taken from properties around Fa'side. There have also been break-ins with valuables stolen.
A number of bikes have been taken from properties around Fa’side. There have also been break-ins with valuables stolen.
The Community Council understands that there has been a spate of opportunistic break-ins across the ward. From what can be gathered it is believed that these recent crimes can be attributed to an individual known to the Police.

Fortunately, it is important to emphasise that crime of any kind is almost a non-issue in this part of East Lothian.

The modus operandi of this current perpetrator is to take advantage of unlocked car or home doors, taking anything of value.

More recently a number of people have reported their bikes being stolen and we have fresh accounts of people discovering that valuables or cash have been taken from their homes whilst they slept. According to Police the person behind this activity takes full advantage of the fact that many houses are simply left unlocked.

The advice is simple. Do lock garages, car doors and most importantly your home’s doors and windows at all times.

If you have recently lost anything valuable please report this to the local Police. You can email the Fa’side community police here.


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Community police officer warns homeowners to be vigilant

Yesterday evening the Community Council met in Trevelyan Hall and received a report of recent crimes of opportunity from local policeman Scott Robertson.

Homeowners can take simple measures to prevent making a crime of opportunity possible.
Pencaitland is fortunate in having generally enjoyed extremely low crime rates. However, PC Robertson reported that there had been a recent spate of crimes of opportunity taking place, made possible in most instances by home owners not taking some simple precautions.

With recent incidents in mind, PC Robertson is advising people to ensure that they not only lock their front doors but ensure they also lock any rear doors into their homes. This should also extend to garages, sheds and parked cars.


Your Local Community Police Team

The current community police officers covering the Fa'side ward are based out of Tranent police station.
The current community police officers covering the Fa’side ward are based out of Tranent police station. Click the image or here for more information on community policing.

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Nits pick Pencaitland

We’ve had reports that a number of people have recently discovered head lice (or nits) on their children and/or themselves.

Hairbrush - do not share your brush or comb with any other family members and rinse under warm water (image copyright stopherjones @ Flickr)If you don’t know how to detect them we recommend you read the following information on the NHS Choices website…

“Head lice are tiny wingless insects that live in human hair. They are common, particularly in children.

Head lice are grey-brown in colour, the size of a pinhead when hatched and of a sesame seed when fully grown.

They cannot fly, jump or swim and are spread by head-to-head contact, climbing from the hair of an infected person to the hair of someone else.

A head lice infestation is not the result of dirty hair or poor hygiene. Head lice can affect all types of hair irrespective of its condition and length.

Head lice only affect humans and cannot be passed on to animals or be caught from them.”

For details on life cycle, detection and treatment visit the NHS Choices website

Nits are tenacious critters. Kids with an all-clear one week can easily pick up an infestation playing with other children. So it’s best to frequently check for evidence by regularly combing with a specialist nit brush. Head cleanliness provides no advantage or protection.

If you discover a member of your family is affected, ensure that you tell anyone you or your family have been in recent contact with. This will reduce the chances of reinfestation.

Lastly, do not share hair brushes between family members. Ensure everyone uses their own comb or brush.

Good luck…

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Local sports clubs needed for Active East Lothian website

A ‘one stop shop’ website for sport in East Lothian is set to launch courtesy of the Healthy Living service in ELC, in partnership with Community Sport Hubs across the county.

Active East Lothian is meant to be the de facto tool for providing club information to the public. It will link all groups, involved in developing sport within their community, in one central place. It’s due to go live next Wednesday at http://www.activeeastlothian.co.uk/, though this is just a holding page at the moment.

The latest East Lothian in Action Newsletter includes a story on plans to launch a new 'one stop shop' website to bring resources and expertise under one umbrella website for all sports clubs in East Lothian. Send in your club's details now.Information on sports within each area will be at a communities’ fingertips including an easy activity search option, up to date news and events and information on community projects. There will also be resources on how to get involved in volunteering and coaching in the community.

The Active East Lothian website will provide resources for club sport on everything from child protection to funding, through its Community Sport Hub pages. All local East Lothian clubs will have access to this facility, provided they are engaged with their local Community Sport Hub.

This will give clubs the chance to share resources and expertise, find templates for administration and governance, create valuable relationships and partnerships between clubs and promote their club within the sporting community. This side of the Active East Lothian site is designed to create stronger, more sustainable and better connected clubs by making club management easier and more streamlined. This, along with their CSH membership, gives valuable club volunteers more time to spend on their sports.

One website for all sports in East Lothian

To create an effective website the Community Sport Hubs have been working to build the membership base, so that all sport clubs are represented — both in the hubs and on the Active East Lothian site. If you are part of a club and would like more information on Community Sport Hubs and how your club can be involved please contact Bengy Barsanti on 01875 619 069 or by email on bbarsanti@eastlothian.gov.uk

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East Lothian Council’s flood advice

With the spate of what can at times seem like endless amounts of rain over East Lothian, we thought we’d reproduce this handy advice on flooding from ELC. Hopefully it will not be needed any time soon.

What information is available if there is flooding in the area?

Flood Ahead signSEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) runs FLOODLINE, the recorded telephone and website service that provides information on the latest risk of river and coastal flooding in Scotland.

The FLOODLINE number is 0845 988 1188 and callers to that number can hear Flood Alerts or Warnings in force for their area, telling them when potential flooding is forecast, as well as general advice on how to prepare for, or cope with flooding.

You can also sign up to the Floodline service, so when SEPA issues a Flood Alert or Warning for your area you can receive it directly to your phone via text message or voicemail, giving you time to take action.

For more info about how to prepare for severe weather and coping during it, visit Ready Scotland

Flood prevention

Householders are reminded that it is their responsibility to make sure they have their own floodwater prevention equipment such as sandbags and floodgates. These can be bought from DIY stores.

More information is available on the SEPA website at Be Flood Prepared.

Floodwater

flood alert logo

Take extra care if you have to cross deep or fast flowing water which can hide other dangers or be contaminated and dangerous to health. Don’t allow pets to drink or play in it and wash your hands if you come into contact with the water.

Concern for the community

Try and be a good neighbour. Keep an eye on those around you, particularly older people, and anyone with disabilities or young children.

What is the council’s role during severe weather?

East Lothian Council works with its partners in health, the police, the emergency services, the voluntary sector and the Scottish Government to make sure that as many services as possible are maintained. Its priority is to ensure that those at the most risk and the most need receive attention first. So, during periods of severe weather, it asks people to be patient, take care and keep up to date with what’s happening by using ELC’s pages on its website.

You can also phone ELC’s Contact Centre on 01875 824 305. Bear in mind that the high volume of calls to the Contact Centre during severe weather means you may spend a little time in its call-waiting system.

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Recent video of flooding in Haddington

This post is based on original advice posted on the ELC website here.

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