A NEW guide has been created to help the 104,000 Neighbourhood Watch members in Essex.

The Essex Neighbourhood Watch Association is kitting out group members with a booklet which includes latest crime trends like cybercrime and modern slavery.

Chairman Clive Stewart said: “National Neighbourhood Watch produced a members’ guide which was popular when it was last released.

“As there are no immediate plans for an updated edition, I thought it would be good to have a version produced specifically for Essex.”

Funding to produce 30,000 copies of the guide has been provided from the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s community safety fund through a £4,000 grant.

Mr Stewart said: “This was our way of reflecting what we do in Essex.

“The most important thing is our members get information that is relevant to the county.

“It promotes what we have been talking about and raises awareness of Neighbourhood Watch.

“We are the eyes and ears of the community, but so is everyone and we do more than that.

“We tell people how to contact the police, we tell people who to contact to reduce crime; we share information from Victim Support, Crimestoppers and Essex Police.

“It was pleasing to get the funding to be able to do this. It’s just brilliant.

“It has not ended up costing them anything and each district gets 2,000 copies each.”

Another £11,000 has been awarded to the Essex Neighbourhood Watch Association to assist with running costs and the organisation’s annual.

Police commissioner Roger Hirst said he is proud to offer support.