Footpath Closure.

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WORCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
PUBLIC NOTICE
Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (As Amended)
(Footpath BP-543, Bishampton and CL-526, Church Lench) (Temporary Closure) Order 2022
NOTICE is hereby given that the Order made by Worcestershire County Council on 21 July 2022 the effect of which is to close that part of Footpath BP-543 Bishampton and CL-526 Church Lench for its entire length, which was due to expire on 1 October 2023 has been
continued in force with the approval of the Secretary of State for the Department Transport until the works to which it relates have been completed or until 1 June 2024 whichever is sooner. Any further extension will require the approval of the Secretary of  State.
The Order has been made to allow for the construction of ground mounted solar farm.
Alternative route: Bishampton footpaths BP-519, BP-523, BP-516 and BP-517, Church
Lench footpath CL-525, C2022 and vice versa.
Thomas Pollock Head of Commercial Law (Legal and Governance) County Hall Spetchley
Road Worcester.
5 October 2023

Public Rights Of Way.

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Please view attached poster.

Weekly Fraud update from West Mercia Police – Economic Crime Unit – 27/06/2023

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Neighbourhood Matters LogoThe Police

COURIER FRAUD

We reported an outbreak of Courier Fraud scams in this region earlier in the year and now, once again, we are raising your awareness following a spate of reports of Courier Frauds focused in the Herefordshire area.

Courier Fraud occurs when a fraudster contacts victim by telephone usually claiming to be a police officer, bank official or other law enforcement official.

The caller may also be able to confirm some easily obtainable basic details about the victim such as their full name and address. The caller will try and build up trust with the potential victim before proceeding.

Their aim is to get the victim to reveal their PIN, credit or debit card and /or bank details, and more than often will target the elderly as potential victims.

How does it work?

·           The scammer calls you claiming to be from your bank or as a police officer and will tell you either a fraudulent payment on your account needs dealing with, or sometimes that a person has been arrested using your details and cards

·           You may be asked to call the bank back to convince you the call is genuine using the number on the reverse of your card. However, the Scammer has still kept the line open so you are still touch with the Scammer

·           If you do try to call your Bank back, always wait at least 5 minutes for the line to clear or use another phone

·           They will either ask you for your card PIN number or tell you to key it into the phone – you should never be asked for your PIN or pass it over on the phone

·           The Caller then tells you they will send a Courier to pick up your card – they may often provide a “password” to give to the Courier to make it sound even more genuine

Once they have your card and your PIN they then have access to your money.

Other versions of this scam include:

·           Asking you to withdraw a large sum of cash which the police will mark and return to the banking system in an effort to identify a corrupt banking person – once you hand over the cash to the courier –  it is gone

·           Scammers have also realised now that when a more vulnerable person goes into the Bank to withdraw large sums of cash the Bank staff become suspicious so the Scammer may tell the victim to withdraw the cash in Euros from a Foreign Exchange outlet

·           A person claiming to be a police officer and is investigating sales of counterfeit goods then asks you to buy an expensive item such as a watch or jewellery from a specific retailer. You are then asked to hand it over to the Courier to deliver to the “Police” and again that is the last you see or hear of it.

·         A further common variation is to tell you your bank account has been compromised and you need to transfer all your money into a “Safe Account”. Once again you have delivered your cash directly to the Scammer.

Protect yourself

  • Your bank or the police will never call you to ask you to verify your personal details or PIN by phone or offer to pick up your card by courier. Hang up if you get a call like this.
  • If you need to call your bank back to check, wait five minutes; fraudsters may stay on the line after you hang up. Alternatively, use a different line altogether to call your bank.
  • If you think you have been scammed use the dedicated  “159” telephone number for direct access to your Bank

Please feel free to share these messages with any vulnerable friends, relatives or neighbours.

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Take Five To Stop Fraud

STOP: Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe.

CHALLENGE: Could it be fake? It’s OK to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.

PROTECT: Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve fallen for a scam and report it to Action Fraud

ALWAYS REMEMBER:

·         Avoid disclosing security details

·         Emails, Phone Calls and Texts may not be authentic

·         Always make direct contact with any organisation by using a genuine phone number

·         Stop and Challenge any unexpected requests

·         Protect others by reporting Fraud and Scams

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If you’ve fallen for a scam, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via actionfraud.police.uk.

Scam Text messages can be forwarded to 7726 to help phone providers take early action and block numbers that generate

 spam on their networks.

Forward Fake Emails received to . 

Neighbourhood Matters

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Neighbourhood Matters LogoAction Fraud (NFIB)

Almost 21 million reports have been made to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS), resulting in the removal of over 235,000 malicious websites.

SERS was launched by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the City of London Police in April 2020 to enable the public to forward suspicious emails to an automated system that scans them for malicious links. Since its launch, almost 21 million reports have been made to the service.

Mobile phone providers also offer a service that allows customers to report suspicious text messages, by forwarding them to the number 7726. The service is free of charge and enables providers to takedown malicious websites and block malicious texts from being sent across their network.

As of 31 May 2023, 54,000 text message scams have been removed as a result of suspicious texts forwarded to the 7726 service.

Commander Nik Adams, from City of London Police, said:

“Every year, thousands of people in the UK are scammed by a fraudulent email or text message. Phishing scams, whether it’s a text message claiming you have missed a delivery and are required to pay a redelivery fee, or an email claiming to be from your bank are a common security challenges that both individuals and businesses across the UK face on a daily basis.

“If you receive an email or text message that you think might be a scam, don’t respond to it or click any links in the message or email. Instead, contact the organisation directly using contact information from the company’s official website, and not the links or numbers provided in the message itself.

“If you think you have been a victim of fraud, report it to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. By reporting phishing scams or suspected fraud, you are directly helping us in our work to identify and stop these criminals and helping us protect others from these scams. If you are in Scotland, I ask that you report the fraud  directly to Police Scotland by calling 101.”

How to protect yourself from scam emails and texts

Received an email or text that seems suspicious? Report it. Your reports enable us to remove the emails and websites criminals use to commit fraud and cyber crime.

1: Forward suspicious emails to  . Send emails to this address that feel suspicious, even if you’re not certain they’re a scam – we can check.

2: Forward suspicious text messages to 7726 (it’s free of charge). Your provider can find out where the text came from and block or ban the sender.

3 – If you’ve lost money or provided personal information as a result of a phishing scam, notify your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.

Please note: Sometimes a forwarded email may not reach us because it is already recognised by spam detection services. You can also take a screenshot of the email and send it to 

 

 

 

Community Infrastructure Levy

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Please see attached report.

Church Lench Play area

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The play area in Church Lench will be open from Saturday 4th March 2023.

The new multi play unit has now been installed.

New Dementia Café opening.

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Broadway Museum and Art Gallery will be the exciting new home of the Age UK Herefordshire and Worcestershire Dementia Café for Broadway and surrounding areas.

The café will provide engaging and meaningful activities for people with mild to moderate dementia, their families and carers.

Opening Friday, 10th February, from 2pm – 4pm, this FREE service will run on every 2nd Friday of the month. Come along and have a cup of tea with someone who understands.

For more information please call: 0800 008 6077 or email: 

Neighbourhood Plan Update – January 23

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South Lenches Parish Council Neighbourhood Plan Update January 2023

Happy New Year! It was great to see so many people rallying round to discuss a recent planning application in Church Lench, and proof that there remains enthusiasm for the right level of development in the Parish. Since the last time the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Committee met in 2022, we have been busy behind the scenes, developing the Vision, Aims and Objectives of the Neighbourhood Plan followed by the Policies, supported by all the evidence that the community has brought together in the previous years.

There are 3 critical consultation milestones that we need to reach for the Neighbourhood Plan to be adopted. Regulation 14 – when the draft Plan is reviewed by the whole Parish.

Regulation 16 – when the draft Plan (including any changes from the Parish consultation) is reviewed by Wychavon District Council; then final Examination (from an external Planning

Examiner) and Referendum to approve the Plan from the whole Parish.

The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Committee is due to meet on January 16th, 2023, when we will discuss the steps to be taken to get the Neighbourhood Plan ready for Parish consultation. The aim is to have the Plan ready by Spring this year and to reach final adoption by the end of this year.

To meet these targets, we need your help and support. The people on the Steering Committee along with the Parish Council are representing you and your views of how our Parish should develop in the coming years. But it is YOUR plan. A Plan that will play a vital role in the future development of the South Lenches communities.

There are many tasks and activities to be completed before we reach the Regulation 14 consultation – if you have some time to volunteer and can be a part of our Steering Committee, please let us know! We will update you via the Parish magazine again next month.

Carolyn Hodges.

Email:

Notice of Conclusion of Audit ending March 2022

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Advice 2-Step Verification and why it can protect you and your family

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Neighbourhood Matters LogoThe Police

Criminals are clever these days and protecting your life on the internet is just as important as locking your front and back doors. Setting up 2SV can help protect your online accounts, even if your password is stolen.

What is 2-Step Verification (2SV)?

2-step verification (often shortened to 2SV) provides a way of ‘double checking’ that you really are the person you are claiming to be when you’re using online services, such as banking, email or social media. It is available on most of the major online services. 2-step verification (2SV) is also known as two-factor authentication (2FA) and multi-factor authentication (MFA).

When setting up 2SV, the service will ask you to provide a ‘second step’, which is something that you (and only you) can access. This could be a code that’s sent to you by text message, or that’s created by an app.

Why should you use 2SV?

Passwords can be stolen by cyber criminals, potentially giving them access to your online accounts. However, accounts that have been set up to use 2SV will require an extra check, so even if a criminal knows your password, they won’t be able to access your accounts.

The NCSC (National Cyber Crime Centre) recommends that you set up 2SV on your ‘important’ accounts; these will typically be the ‘high value’ accounts that protect things that you really care about and would cause the most harm to you if the passwords to access these accounts were stolen. You should also use it for your email, as criminals with access to your inbox can use it to reset passwords on your other accounts.

Some online services will already have 2SV switched on. However most don’t, so you will need to switch it on yourself to give extra protection to your other online accounts, such as email, social media and cloud storage. If available, the option to switch on 2SV is usually found in the security settings of your account (where it may also be called ‘two-factor authentication’).

The Cyber Aware pages on the NCSC website contain up-to-date links to the instructions on how to set up 2SV across popular online services such as Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Outlook.

What if 2SV isn’t available?

While many major services do offer it, there are still some that do not. If 2SV is not available on one of your important accounts, like email, you should ensure that it has a strong unique password. You may even want to consider changing services to one that does offer 2-step verification.

For more information and advice, visit our website.