Watch officers on patrol keeping our roads safe this summer

The officer alerts his colleagues on patrol in other locations in Skegness to watch out for the vehicle.

This car driver may have thought he’d had a lucky escape – but the message had been delivered that Lincolnshire Police are out and addressing a very grave concern.

In May, Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership revealed a ‘sad start to the year’ with 23 fatalities from 20 collisions – more than double the number of fatal collisions on same period in 2023

All the collisions took place on April 29 – one near Gunby, one on the outskirts of Boston, and one at Swineshead Bridge.

Traffic patrols to reduce these figures are part of the coastal Summertime Policing Plan – which has been shortlisted for a Tilley Award for ‘achieving measurable success in resolving issues faced by the police, partners and/or the community’ – and I had joined officers to witness this in action.

My shift stated at 6pm and as I waited to join the officers a family were in the reception area with a large, seemingly friendly female bull type dog that had been abandoned. It had clearly had pups and I heard the family explain how somone had asked them to look after it but they were not able to do so.

Within minutes an appeal for its owner had been put out on social media – but as I joined three officers in the police car waiting outside I could hear it barking. “It’ll be taken by a kennels,” I was reassured.

We left the police station and headed to our location on the outskirts of Skegness. Our vehicle was placed at the top of a road on an island, its blue lights flashing to indication an operation in process.

PC Kirt Nessworthy, who had applied for overtime from Grantham to increase weekend police presence in the resort, took up position on Roman Bank.

PC Sarah Garbutt and PC Charlotte Redmond had taken up position in a quiet side road to conduct the inspection.

"We are doing some road safety checks as part of the summertime policing plan to make Skegness a safer place to visit, work and live,” explained PC Garbutt.

"So we are drawing some velicle in and conducting some spot checks.”

I asked PC Nessworthy what he looked for when choosing a vehicle for a random spot check. He explained “When conducting a random spot check we are looking for any offences present, manner of driving and condition of vehicle.”

Most of the drivers stopped were happy to cooperate – but a woman living in the neighbourhood was not sp happy.

She called on the officers to move. “You are drawing people’s attention to my home,” she claimed. “I don’t feel safe with you here.”

“Surely you should feel safer,” an offer responded. The woman disappeared claiming she would be putting in a complaint to Lincolnshire Police, in spite of them being on a public highway and perfectly entitled to be there.

She also objected to your reporter being there. “Look at her standing there like a prositute – I want you to go.”

We stayed on location for around an hour, during which time eight cars were inspected with no major issues.

One bare chested male passenger admitted he had been smoking cannabis but had thrown it out of the window before the vehicle was stopped.

Another had issues with insurance, believing he was entited to drive on his father’s policy. A call was made and the matter was rectified.

PC Redmond explained: “He’s taken out some insurance so he is covered. A lot of people have the misconception that we prosecute everybody for every offence but the police are not loke that.

"People make genuine mistakes so of they can rectify them quite quickly we let them do that.

"That gentleman and his partner are now off to get some dinner after a nice day out together.”

After the postive conclusion we got back in the car and headed back to the station – only to quickly turn round in persuit of a car that had been reported earlier in the day with a badly broken windscreen.

It took a left and disappeared into the crowds walking to local bars. However a member of the public approached us and directed us on to a caravan site.

A woman passenger had been left in the car with children – the male driver having run off.

She explained he had a previous licence ban for drink driving and had been drinking.

During the lively conversation that followed another police vehicle joined us.

The woman had asked if family could tow the car back to where they were staying and the station was called.

She was not happy as she left the scene clutching a bag on contents and a four pack of beer.

As a ‘seized’ sticker was placed across the back window, PC Nessworthy explained: “We called that station but with children involved and the state of the car with a badly smashed window and broken wing mirror, the decision was made that the car should be seized.”

As we arrived back at the station for a break before moving on to patrol the night-time economy further up the coast, the dog that had been abandoned earlier could still be heard barking from the temporary accommodation where it had been placed until it could be moved on to a registered kennels.

The night was still, as it were, young – but was representative of the passion for serving the public as outlined by Chief Constable Paul Gibson who last week presented his first annual Police Plan.

The plan sets out the force vision and ambition, priorities and aims, gives details relating to finance, staff numbers, and outlines the key deliverables for the year ahead.

In his foreword to the plan, Mr Gibson said: “It is a privilege to serve our diverse and vibrant communities in Lincolnshire as Chief Constable and I do not underestimate the responsibility that comes with it.

“My ambition for policing in the county is to create an outstanding local police service, that is passionate about serving the public, caring for its people, and constantly improving how it protects our communities; working in partnership to secure a safe and resilient Lincolnshire.

“This dynamic annual plan for policing, which will be delivered in collaboration with the PCC, sets the roadmap for that, showing how we intend to deliver an effective and efficient police service that responds to the needs of communities while simultaneously delivering the best possible value for money. I believe that if we get the foundations right and focus on supporting our staff, giving them clear direction and clarity about what is expected of them, we will deliver an exceptional standard of policing in Lincolnshire.”