Morning Edition: House shut down | JCB hopes | Scam alert

Good morning! Here's your update for Wednesday, covering the latest news from across our borough.

Hope you have a great day and see you tomorrow!

Police swoop in and shut down Arnold house that became ‘magnet’ for anti-social behaviour

Police have boarded up a home in Arnold after a host of noise complaints, fights and drugs use were linked to the property.

Officers from the Gedling Central Neighbourhood Policing Team secured the closure order on 72 Bentwell Avenue following a series of complaints from nearby residents.

The property was boarded up on Thursday (23) following the granting of an order at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court – it is believed to be the first order of its kind secured in Gedling borough.

The order will be in place for three months and prohibits anyone from entering the house.

If an individual breaches the order they will be committing an offence and be liable to imprisonment and/or a fine.

Problems at the property included loud music, parties into the early hours of the morning and other antisocial behaviour.

There have also been sporadic reports of drug use and a fight involving weapons in January this year.

Sergeant Alison Riley, of the Gedling Central neighbourhood policing team, said: “It is disappointing when an address becomes a magnet for antisocial behaviour in the way this house has done.

“Police were repeatedly called to the address and the number of complaints meant we were determined to take action.

“Although the order is a first for Gedling we won’t hesitate to take action like this in future. In neighbourhood policing we always act when an address becomes such a problem for the whole community.

“It is also pleasing that members of the community had the confidence in their neighbourhood team to share their accounts and provide the evidence we needed to shut the property down.

“I hope this order now gives residents in the community some respite from these issues.

“It should also serve as a warning to other people about what could happen to them if they behave in this way.”

To report antisocial behaviour, call 101 or use the Live Chat option on our website. If you don’t report it the problems may continue – so don’t rely on someone else to report it for you.

New JCB pothole machines to be on Notts roads ‘within two weeks’

Reform’s new JCB pothole machines will be working on the borough’s roads within the next two weeks, says the council leader.

Back in February, the Reform-led Nottinghamshire County Council announced it would be purchasing at least two JCB Pothole Pro machines to help with tackling the declining state of the county’s roads.

The machines have been trialled by neighbouring Reform-run authorities in Derbyshire and Lincolnshire and typically cost between £150,000 and £200,000.

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New fraud warning after borough residenst served fake customer service phone numbers by AI

A warning has been issued urging people in Gedling borough to 'stay alert' after new research revealed AI tools are directing customers to fake customer service phone lines – putting millions of consumers at risk of fraud.

It has been revealed criminals are exploiting AI‑powered tools so that consumers looking to contact trusted brands are shown fake phone numbers, websites and search results, which they use to capture data and perpetrate fraud.

Virgin Media O2, who carried out the research, say they have dealt with fraud cases where customers have called these numbers and been scammed. It’s warning this sophisticated fraud is on the rise and urging consumers to be on their guard.

To help peopel stay safe, advice has been issued to people when looking for a customer service number online:

• Only use customer service numbers listed on official company websites, apps or on your bill. For customers looking to speak to O2, the quickest way is calling 202 from an O2 device and for Virgin Media it’s 150 from the landline.
• Be cautious of numbers returned by search engines, social media posts or AI tools
• Never share security codes or personal details with unsolicited callers – no matter who they say they are from.
• Report suspected calls and texts to 7726 on any network to help shut down scams faster in future.

Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud Prevention at Virgin Media O2, said: “Criminals know when people search for help, they’re often looking for a quick answer. AI tools are creating new opportunities for fraudsters to create realistic looking fake numbers that appear through search results or chatbots, putting people at risk of calling a criminal rather than their trusted provider.

“At Virgin Media O2, we’re doing all we can to keep customers safe by blocking known scammer numbers on the network and using AI to flag more than 1 billion suspicious calls to date. But with scammers looking to exploit new channels to target victims, everyone can help us keep people safe by reporting dodgy numbers to 7726 so we can shut down scams faster in future.”  

Residents can find out more about how to protect themselves from scams and stay one step ahead of fraud at Stop Think Fraud – the UK Government’s national awareness campaign.

🌦️ Weather Update

A dry day with long sunny spells and increasingly strong easterly winds, with a chance of gales. Tonight will be dry with some late sunny spells, though remaining windy. A clear night will follow, becoming chilly. Winds abating a little, though a brisk breeze will remain.

Tomorrow will see another day of long sunny spells, though windy once again. Warm, though feeling cooler.