Cleveland Police Under Fire as £1.3m Middlesbrough Safety Plan Is Blocked..
- teessidetoday
- Dec 16
- 3 min read
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen Accuses Cleveland Police of Blocking £1.3m Crime Crackdown in Middlesbrough...
16th December 2025
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has launched a blistering attack on Cleveland Police after the force’s Chief Constable reportedly refused to meet with him over plans to introduce Town Guards in Middlesbrough town centre — a scheme designed to tackle rising crime and antisocial behaviour.
In a public statement made online, Mayor Houchen confirmed that Cleveland Police had made it clear they do not want Town Guards operating in the town centre, despite the plans being fully developed, costed, and already approved for funding.
Crucially, the proposal was said to have been originally drawn up with the involvement of Cleveland Police and local firms, making the force’s sudden resistance to the scheme all the more controversial.
The scheme would have seen Town Guards granted formal police-style powers, allowing them to actively intervene in crime and disorder rather than merely observe and report. A total of £1.3 million in public funding had already been signed off, meaning the project was ready to go.
A Proven Model — Rejected in Teesside
Mr Houchen pointed out that similar Town Guard or enhanced enforcement models were already operating successfully in more than a dozen areas across the country, including Lancashire, Wiltshire, Bristol, Kent, and Merseyside. In those areas, such schemes have been credited with improving public confidence and supporting overstretched police forces.
Yet in Middlesbrough, Cleveland Police appear unwilling to allow the same approach — even as the town centre continues to struggle with visible crime, antisocial behaviour, and declining footfall.
According to the Mayor, this resistance amounts to the police “dragging their feet and blocking progress” while businesses and residents are left to deal with the consequences.
Houchen did not hold back in his assessment of Cleveland Police, describing it as a “broken force” that has repeatedly shown itself to be incapable of keeping town centres safe.
Safety concerns, he said, are not abstract or exaggerated — they are real, persistent, and well-documented. Until they are tackled head-on, people will continue to avoid Middlesbrough town centre, undermining local businesses and wider regeneration efforts.
Local traders and residents, Houchen stressed, have been clear in their demands for tougher action. The Town Guards proposal was intended to respond directly to those concerns by putting visible, empowered enforcement “boots on the ground”.
The Funding Was in Place — The Will To Move Forward Was Not
Acknowledging the pressures facing police forces nationwide, Mr Houchen argued that this was precisely why the Town Guards plan was so important. Rather than adding to the burden on Cleveland Police, the scheme would have supplemented policing capacity with dedicated funding already secured.
For the force — and the Police and Crime Commissioner — to reject the plan outright, while allegedly attempting to frustrate it at every stage, was described by Mr Houchen as “nothing short of unbelievable”.
Perhaps most significantly, Houchen said the episode reinforced the case for scrapping Police and Crime Commissioners altogether and undertaking a wholesale overhaul of Cleveland Police governance.
“If ever proof was needed,” he said, “this is it.”
With Middlesbrough town centre continuing to suffer, questions will now be asked about who is ultimately accountable for public safety on Teesside — and why a fully funded, nationally proven solution was allowed to stall....
