Robin Dadson, of Churchfields, Dartmouth, writes:

Prior to retiring to Dartmouth four years ago I lived in Biggin Hill, Kent, for 39 years.

When I first became a resident of Biggin Hill the population was somewhere in the region of 8,000 people and the 'village', as it is known, was allocated its own police station with officers on duty there at all times.

There were several police vehicles attached to the station and also dedicated home beat officers who were very familiar to the local population and were well aware of the overall local situation.

In those happy days, the 'village' enjoyed a reasonably tranquil existance with little trouble.

As time went by the population rose and by the time I left it had grown to around 14,000.

In spite of this increase, the Metropolitan Police saw fit to close Biggin Hill police station despite the serious concerns voiced by residents.

Everyone was assured that there was no need whatsoever to worry as adequate police coverage for any incidents would be swiftly provided either from the police stations at Orpington or Bromley which are both around seven miles from Biggin Hill.

Needless to say these assurances were over optimistic. Incidents of anti-social behaviour exploded beyond belief.

I was attacked and rendered unconcious for objecting to a group of louts nearly knocking my dog and myself over when walking along an isolated footpath in dense woodland. An elderly man had previously been ridden down and severely injured in a similar incident.

Vandalism became rife. Bus shelters and the like, together with private property, were wrecked with regularity and people ceased to use footpaths and rights of way for fear of being assaulted.

Naturally there was uproar as a result but all we got were farcical assurances that all was well in spite of the facts.

My own misfortune was reported as soon as I regained my senses and about an hour later an officer arrived – after I had managed to walk over a mile from the scene of the attack and had reached the outskirts of the 'village'.

On another occasion, a neighbour sat and watched a group of thugs smash up a children's playground from her home while she was speaking to a police operator on her landline.

This woman was exceptionally lucky as it was normally virtually impossible to get through to either Orpington or Bromley police stations on the numbers provided and it was quite usual to wait up to an hour to receive an respose from an operator when attempting to report an incident.

No police attended in response to her call until the following morning.

As a result many residents simply did not bother to try to report anything they were witnessing, as they deemed it a waste of time.

On one occasion I did hang on to report an incident, which was long over when I eventually got through, and was told outright the only available officers at the time came to the grand total of two who were in a single van and were expected to cover an unbelievable area of umpteen square miles.

The climax came one year on Hallowe'en night.

A gang of thugs gathered at Biggin Hill and smashed up the local recycling centre, overturned a number of bottle banks, set fire to several paper bins and charity clothing bins and assaulted a number of brave residents who lived in the immediate vicinity who had dared to object to the damage being inflicted.

Eventually a lone police car with two officers arrived on the scene which was immediately attacked and damaged.

The officers, quite understandably, did not leave their vehicle for fear of their lives and it was later estimated the mob was well over 50-strong, with ages ranging from those in their early teens to thugs in their thirties.

Their 'fun' eventually came to an end as the officers radioed for support and the gang dispersed.

I visited the scence the following morning and still have photographs of some of the wreckage. The broken glass from the recycling bins was strewn across the road and pavement and lay several inches deep in some places.

A meeting was subsequently arranged between residents, representatives of the council, the local MP and the police.

The latter were most apologetic after the event but we were informed it was an exceptional incident as few complaints were registered concerning anti-social behaviour in Biggin Hill.

The fact was people had simply gave up trying to report such occurences when they took place as it took forever to get through to anybody on the phone.

The official response was to fall back on false statistics which 'proved' the area was being adequately policed in view of the low crime rate and lack of complaints by the public.

How very convenient.

When I moved to Dartmouth just over four years ago, the atmosphere was very similar to that of Biggin Hill in the late 1960s.

However, with the closure of Dartmouth police station and the intention of covering the town from Totnes – twice the distance Biggin Hill was from Bromley or Orpington – I fear we will very soon be enjoying the atmosphere prevailing in Biggin Hill when I left in 2008.

Indeed, I believe the signs are already here.