A COMMUNITY crime-fighting scheme which encourages the public to pass information to York police has put a number of offenders behind bars.

The initiative, piloted in the South Bank area, has been so successful that it is now to be launched in other parts of the city.

South Bank community officer PC Dave White set up the PPAYBAC scheme - Public and Police Against York Burglary and Crime - in October and has already received more than 300 tip-offs from the public.

"People are fed up of crime and disorder, but are often too scared to come forward with information," he said.

"They want to see their area cleaned up, but want to remain anonymous because of the fear of retribution."

"So this is a way for the community to pay the criminals back."

Residents write down information anonymously about suspicious people or activity they see in their area on forms circulated by PC White.

The information is either passed on to specialist teams of detectives or filed for future reference.

One tip-off started as a report of a car being driven at speed. Further information came in and led to the arrest of a man for burglary and three counts of driving while disqualified.

The results so far have been impressive and have caught the eye of senior officers.

Seven people arrested for burglaries in the York and Selby areas

One person arrested for car theft and drug possession

Others charged with handling stolen goods and driving while disqualified

The recovery of a large amount of cigarettes, electrical goods and drugs.

Other operations against criminals are ongoing, thanks to information passed to PC White.

He added: "We are also receiving a valuable amount of information about criminals and their everyday movements and activities which we are usually not privy to."

Word of the scheme has spread across the city and Neighbourhood Watch schemes and residents' associations elsewhere are keen to join up.

Superintendent John Lacy said he could not speak highly enough of PC White's initiative.

"He has harnessed the public in providing top-quality information, which has helped police tackle a number of crime and anti-social behaviour issues," he said.