Vouchers cutting £5 off the “taxi” fare home are being given out in Ripley on Friday night (June 13) by members of the Amber Valley Community Safety Partnership team.

The project has been organised as part of Operation Relentless - a major countywide campaign targeting alcohol-related disorder and domestic abuse in a bid to reduce actual victims and people's fear of becoming a victim of such offences.
 
Ripley is expected to be particularly busy on Friday, because British rap DJ and presenter of the BBC Radio 1 Rap Show Tim Westwood is due to make an appearance in town.

The idea behind the fare-reducing project is to help people get out of town quickly and easily at the end of their night out.

“Situations can become tense if crowds of people are all waiting for transport in the same place at the same time,” Amber Valley Community Safety Officer Sally Price said. “The vouchers should help prevent people having to wait around for long periods of time.”

The Community Safety Partnership Sergeant Julie Hay and Crime Reduction Officers for the area will be among those handing the vouchers out in town. They can be used as part-payment of a fare between 7pm on Friday and 5am the next morning. To validate the voucher, users will have to fill in their name and address on the back and provide a signature. Each one is numbered.

Companies taking part in the scheme are Amber Taxis, BES Taxis, Bond Cars, L O Taxis, Jock’s Taxis, Dizzy Cabs and private hire company AAA. The telephone numbers for these operators are printed on the vouchers.

A similar scheme was trialled earlier this year but used on duty police officers to hand the vouchers out. The Partnership hopes that by identifying dedicated staff for the project there will be a chance to hand out even more vouchers than before and advice will be offered to people encouraging them to get home safely.

Sally Price says: “We really hope that the voucher scheme proves to be a successful aspect of Operation Relentless. It should help to reduce the number of people waiting around in town and reduce alcohol-related violence and damage on routes used by people when they walk home.”

Running until July 27, Operation Relentless is being funded by police and local community safety partners. A range of initiatives and operations have been planned and as well as the voucher scheme will include test purchase operations, a domestic violence training event and use of alcohol test strips in Amber Valley.