Newport City Council leader Cllr Dimitri Batrouni took part in a community safety week of action out and about in the city centre.

He joined council officers, Gwent Police and other partners to find out about issues affecting residents and businesses, including safety and anti-social behaviour.

It was the latest in a regular series of actions, patrols and partner days planned for the city centre.

Regular patrols of the area by the community protection team and the police over the last few months have been having an impact, with businesses saying that they had noticed less anti-social behaviour as a result.

A renewed public space protection order for the city centre has also been agreed by the council.

Cllr  Batrouni said: “Our officers and the police have regular patrols in the city centre to crack down on anti-social behaviour, and the feedback we received from businesses was that this is having an impact.

“We’ve also heard from the police at council that crime levels in the city centre and across the city have reduced over the last few months. Shoplifting is down 38 per cent, vehicle crime is down 28 per cent, and in the city centre specifically, crime is down 25 per cent over the last month or so.”

Superintendent Jason White, Gwent Police’s policing commander for the east of the force which covers Newport and Monmouthshire, said: "With more visible patrols of officers in known hotspots, we have continued to see a month-on-month decrease in recorded offences for violent crime and robbery in the city centre."