Wokingham Borough Connect
 Food for thought
One of the priorities of our Environmental Health and Commercial Services teams is food hygiene inspections.
Depending upon the findings of the previous inspection, all existing food businesses in the borough have to be inspected at intervals of between six months and five years. New food businesses have to be inspected within 28 days of commencing trading.
The Food Standards Agency places a duty on all local authorities to ensure these inspections are carried out and monitors that they do so.
The Commercial Services team is relatively small, comprising only four officers, but they were still able to complete all food premises inspections due by the end of March, plus those requiring a revisit and all new food businesses.
A total of 665 inspections were carried out and of these 540 (81%) were awarded the highest rating of five, also classified as very good.
Should you be planning to visit any of the circa 1,000 food businesses in the borough, you can check the current food hygiene rating prior to doing so.
If you have any complaints or concerns regarding food businesses in Wokingham Borough, these can be sent via email to our Environmental Health team.
 Helping to keep you safe from cyber crime
Following the success of the webinars in February, the South East Cyber Crime Unit have organised a collection of events to help keep people safe online.
There are 22 events in total, including cyber security for businesses, online safety for women and girls and general safety for all ages, as well as one for parents and carers to protect children.
Upcoming webinars include:
All webinars are free to attend, but you can find out more and see other dates when the webinars are running via the Eventbrite page.
 Drivers fined for breach of weight restrictions
The Public Protection Partnership (PPP) enforces weight restriction orders made under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 on behalf of us.
Routine inspections are undertaken on weight restrictions across the area to ensure vehicles are not breaking the law. PPP officers also undertake routine patrols with Thames Valley Police to check for overweight vehicles on the roads.
On 10 October 2024, an enforcement officer observed a heavy goods vehicle travelling through the weight restriction on Sonning Bridge. Following consideration of the evidence provided at magistrates’ court on 14 April this year and a guilty plea by the driver, they were fined £156, ordered to pay £180 contribution towards the prosecution costs and to pay a victim surcharge of £62.
On 28 October 2024, an enforcement officer observed two heavy goods vehicles travelling through the weight restriction on Rances Lane in Wokingham. On 12 May, following guilty pleas by both drivers, they were both fined and ordered to pay costs and a victim surcharge.
 Neighbourhood police update
As well as their regular duties, officers from your neighbourhood policing team have undertaken the following activities:
- Visited Hawkedon Primary School in Lower Earley to showcase PC Ben and the kit and car. Plenty of enthusiastic questions were asked and, of course, the teacher was arrested (just for show!)
- Held a bike marking event in Winnersh. A great turnout on what was a beautiful afternoon for it – keep an eye on their social media for details of further events
- Conducted multiple stop searches around Southlake area in Woodley due to an increased number of reports relating to drug usage. They seized cannabis on all occasions and issued offenders with cannabis warnings
- As a team, the Woodley officers have stopped and detained six shoplifters over the course of one shift-set, with the goods being returned from where they came. This has led to the team proactively approaching other retailers across their area, to register them with a local shop-watch scheme, DISC, as a means to report crime and share information with retailers and the police
- Attended the Futures Convention at Reading Blue Coat School in Sonning. Students from Waingels and The Piggott were also in attendance and explored many education and employment opportunities
- Following multiple reports of speeding together with a crew from Roads Policing, they conducted speed checks in Winnersh. Six tickets were issued for excessive speed, with one driver caught doing 62mph in a 30mph zone
To tell our neighbourhood team about what is going on in your area please complete the survey for your area: Twyford; Winnersh; Earley; Woodley.
 Quishing scams
Quishing involves tricking someone into scanning a fake QR code with a phone or device, taking them to a fraudulent website. Because humans cannot read QR codes, it’s easy for scammers to alter them.
Action Fraud has reported a sharp increase in these scams with 1,386 reports in 2024, compared to 100 in 2019.
Hotspots include contactless payment facilities, such as parking meters and restaurant menus and they have also been spotted on parcels, emails and television.
Protecting yourself:
- If it’s on a poster check whether it’s been stuck over the original. Laminated signs where the QR code is under the lamination or part of the original print are more likely to be genuine
- Download the app from an official store or search the website on your phone’s internet browser, not the QR code
- Check the preview of the QR code and make sure the website uses 'https' rather than 'http', doesn't have obvious misspellings and has a trusted domain
- Proceed with extreme caution if it points to a site asking for personal data, login credentials or financial information
- Trust your instincts: if something doesn’t seem right, don’t share your details
If you think you’ve been scammed, then contact your bank immediately by securely dialling 159 and report your case to Action Fraud.
 How are we doing?
This bulletin was started in January 2024 and is sent out every four weeks. The articles are supplied by colleagues and our external partners.
Here are some facts and figures:
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Number of subscribers: 1,821 subscribers, with 560 new subscriptions in the last six months
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Number/percentage of people who open the email: Since launch, 17,877 emails opened, which is a 60.21% open rate (the open rate national average for local government is 42%). In the last six months, 9,173 emails opened, which is a 60.27% open rate
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Number of clicks on links: Since launch, 691 clicks, 3.74% click rate (click rate national average for local government is 5%). In the last six months, 266 clicks, which is a 3.03% click rate
One of our most popular stories was about successful police action against local cannabis farms. This is still in the news, with a discovery only recently in Reading. To find out how to spot the signs of cannabis cultivation, you can visit Crimestoppers.
Please encourage other residents to sign up to this bulletin and our other bulletins.
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