PEOPLE will be helped with the cost of kits used to deter thieves thanks to the Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia, John Campion.

Mr Campion has told Worcestershire County Councillors that he will meet 25 per cent of the costs of supplying Smartwater kits, used for marking property with a substance that makes it easier to recover stolen goods.

And he wants more county councillors to take him up on the offer.

He said: “Across West Mercia we have already seen great successes with Smartwater proving to work, and I would like to see this continue across the rest of our communities.

"Many people that have used Smartwater, and are now living in a ‘We Don’t Buy Crime’ town, are feeling more reassured and have commented on how there is now a more enhanced community spirit.

“This offer will not only contribute to reducing crime but it will provide a further opportunity for us all to work together and make our communities feel safer.”

The rest of the money for the kits would have to be found by county councillors, from their divisional funds, which they have discretion to spend.

The deputy chairman of the panel, Councillor Michael Wood, of Shropshire Council said: “This is so helpful in deterring and preventing crime.

"There should be a better take-up of this than there has been.”

Smartwater works by leaving a long-lasting mark which is invisible except under ultraviolet black light.

It contains a code which can be used to trace the owners of an item if it has been stolen and recovered by police.

A trial rollout in Cleobury Mortimer in 2015 saw the Shropshire village’s burglary rate cut from six in one year to nil the year after.