A really lovely man

Very sad news about a former beat officer in Cranfield - from Salford local newsletter. Thanks to Alf Murphy for forwarding this.

Many villagers will be deeply saddened to hear that P.C. Jon Birch passed away on the 12th March.  

Jon was our Neighbourhood Police Officer for a number of years until a reorganisation caused him to be reassigned elsewhere. He was a warm and friendly character who regularly attended our Parish Council meetings, even when he was off duty; he was very responsive to any information that we passed on to him and he was instrumental in bringing the ‘Bobby Van’ to the village and advising on personal safety and security.  

At Husborne Crawley School he provided Road Safety and Stranger Danger training sessions for the children and continued to serve on the school’s governing body even after his police duties had taken him elsewhere.  

He will be sadly missed by all who knew him. inspector Peter Nouch of Bedforshire Police said, “Jon’s death is a tragic loss not only to Bedfordshire Police but also the community of Central Bedfordshire, and in particular the smaller villages which are often overlooked. 

Jon cared about local matters and people. He was not only a fine officer but more importantly a fine man. Our thoughts are with his wife Anita and sons ,Matt and Joe, at this time.” 

Jon’s funeral will be held at St. Thomas Becket CoE Church, Green Lane,n Clapham  on Wednesday, 27th March at 2 p.m..  

Tributes or donations, if desired, to “The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts” to acknowledge Jon’s love for the countryside can be sent care of Arnolds Funeral Services, 48 Roff Avenue, Bedford, MK41 7TE P.C. Jon Birch 1971  - 2013 

Cranfield Parish Council chair Delise Ball said: "He was a great bobby to this village and did a lot for us. More than that he was a really lovely man."

On the beat

We had a very useful visit from neighbourhood police officer PC John Birch and PCSO Elaine Fleet at parish council last night. Jon came across as really engaged and at the same time he was very honest about how stretched the thin blue line is in a safer neighbourhood team that stretches across the Vale and all the way to Woburn.

The biggest issue in Cranfield in the last few years has been the so-called 'cruise', 'boyracers' or whatever you want to call them. A couple of years ago we got double yellow lines in and that cleared the way for some kind of traffic calming making hi performance hi jinx impossible. Yeh! Now local businesses have coughed up the cost of the various speed reducing structures and these are out for consultation. Someone on the business park has actually objected but we are hoping that will not stop the scheme going in.

So maybe that is on the way out as an issue but there will probably still be plenty to do. Jon related
some of the other distractions in recent months including criminal damage at a mobile in Lodge road, assault in College Road, various thefts and damages and,  would you Adam and Eve it, lead off the porch roof  at the parish church. That's happened before in the last two or three years. There was one extremely odd one that was successfully detected using DNA evidence. Nuff said - minor I would add.

Julia Wright, one of our former PCSOs, has moved away and everyone is feeling the gap. She, along with Leigh Iddon was a great advertisement for the PCSO concept, putting in a lot of local work (specially on the cruise) and getting to know all sorts of people. She was a really familiar face. No doubt Jon, Elaine and their colleague Keith Glen will do a good job as long as they are allowed to hang around.

Dont forget - to make contact tel 01234 842616 or email snt.woburn@bedfordshire.pnn.police.uk