POLICE officers providing burglary prevention advice in Uley were given a helping hand by pupils at the village’s primary school.

Dressed as police officers, children at Uley Primary School joined PCSOs Joshua Griffiths and Michelle Dodd and community safety advisor at Dursley fire station Jenny McEachern to help deliver advice to residents in the village.

They handed out leaflets providing burglary prevention advice and details of the police’s Neighbourhood Watch scheme on Monday.

PCSO Joshua Griffiths of the Dursley Policing Team said: “Being a victim of burglary is very distressing and every year when the darker nights begin to draw in, we hold a burglary prevention campaign to help reduce this terrible crime.

“This year, we’re urging communities to protect their precious memories which could be stolen if their home is burgled.

“We are hoping to highlight to people the real cost of being a victim of burglary. Some things like wedding rings and photographs are simply irreplaceable.”

Operation Stolen Memories was launched by Gloucestershire Constabulary at the end of October in a bid to reduce the effects of a rise in burglaries usually associated with winter months.

So far police have made 45 arrests connected to the campaign since its launch on October 31.

PCSO Griffiths added: “We value and are very appreciative of the help from the young ‘police officers’ who have kindly given up their time to help us advertise the prevent burglary message.

“We find that we generally get a rise in burglary on the build up to Christmas and we want to get local residents aware that if they remove the opportunity, they potentially can help prevent this type of crime.

“It was quite obvious that the children loved dressing up as police officers and patrolling the streets of Uley.

“We would like to thank them for all their hard work - thank you Uley Primary School.”

Burglary prevention advice and more information about Operation Stolen Memories can be found at Gloucestershire.police.uk/stolenmemories.