Officers from across the council and from partners such as the Metropolitan Police came together for a day of targeted joint working and public engagement in Mitcham town centre last week – thankfully in much nicer weather than the first one in December 2022.

The event was attended by Cllr Eleanor Stringer, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Civic Pride, other local councillors, as well as Siobhain McDonagh, MP for Mitcham and Morden.

Local police and Safer Merton staff set up a stall by the clocktower to speak to local residents, while other council teams carried out activities across the town centre.

Coordinating their work to all be focused on the same place on the same day helps to identify and resolve wider issues quickly, and allows teams to hear directly from the community.

Youth workers were able to identify several young people at risk of being involved in anti-social behaviour, and are planning to carry out follow-up interventions this week to further engage any of them in need of help.

Trading Standards officers visited nine retailers in the town centre and were pleasantly surprised to find that most were compliant with local regulations. This was an improvement on the inspections in December.

There were some infringements of copyright which saw items being removed from sale. A retailer who had several knives on display was asked to remove them and locate them behind the serving counter.

Shop-owners were also canvassed for their opinions on the recent closure of Morrisons and what effect that was having on the economic health of the town centre.

Members of the Waste and Management team conducted a walk around the town centre and other areas of Mitcham. Although there were some issues relating to waste discovered, and that are being addressed, the team found that Mitcham was quite clear of fly-tipping on this occasion.

There were 11 bikes security marked by the police and, there was a steady stream of shoppers and residents who came to discuss local issues with them, and members of the Safer Merton team who handed out information from their table.

Councillor Eleanor Stringer said: “Events such as this are so important for the council and partners like the Metropolitan Police because they allow us to properly engage with the concerns of residents and collaborate on finding solutions.

“It was very heartening to see such a good turn-out from local people last week, and also so good to see officers answering their questions and getting out and about in shops and the wider community.”