Lawrie Simpkin is about to take over as chairman of the Leicestershire Crimestoppers board of the directors.

He is a retired executive editor of the Leicester Mercury and public relations consultant and a former member of the County Crime Prevention Panel.

Leicestershire Crimestoppers was launched in 1995 and since then more than 600 arrests are attributed to calls and more than £325,000 worth of stolen property returned to owners.

Mr Simpkin takes over from Graham Blandford, a retired detective superintendent who is now head of security at Leicester University.

At the recent board meeting where the decision was announced, colleagues praised him for his dedication to the job and said his term in office had been a success in developing the crime-fighting project.

Mr Blandford, in turn, paid tribute to the co-ordinator and other members of the board for their support.

Crimestoppers provides the freephone number, 0800 555 111, which members of the public can ring, without giving their name, to provide the police with vital information about people committing crime.

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