Durham's City Safety Group

Durham City Safety Group was set up in January 2015 as a multi-agency approach to improve public safety in Durham City following a series of river related incidents. These incidents, some of which resulted in fatalities, followed nights out in Durham bars and clubs.

The group sought to allow the agencies to work more closely together to identify and implement measures to improve safety in the city centre.

Who's involved?

The group's members are:

Durham County Council
Durham Police
Durham University
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service
Durham Students' Union
Durham Cathedral

The group meets regularly and is currently chaired by Jane Robinson, who is corporate director of adult and health services at Durham County Council.

Riverside safety improvements

The group has carried out extensive improvements to the riverside area of Durham with a view to improving public safety.

Work was carried out to barriers, footpaths, lighting and public rescue equipment.

It was guided by recommendations from the Royal Society of Prevention for Accidents, which was commissioned by the group to review public safety on the riverside.

RoSPA has since praised the work carried out and described it as "a very good model for other regions and cities to adopt."

Durham City Safety Group documents

RoSPA Water Safety Review for: Durham City Safety Group March 2016 (PDF, 1 MB)
Details of how the group's work was planned in response to RoSPA's recommendations
- Key to how improvement works correspond with RoSPA report (PDF, 51 KB)
- City Safety Group improvement plans display (PDF, 1 MB)
Original RoPSA report including its recommendations: RoSPA Water Safety Review for: Durham City Safety Group (PDF, 459 KB)

Durham is a safe city

It's important to make it clear that Durham is a safe city. The range of measures and actions put in place by the group are designed to complement those already in place.

It's also important to say that, whilst the actions are wide-ranging, nothing the group does will replace the need for people to take responsibility for their own safety and to drink in a safe and sensible way.

Safer socialising

Several bars, clubs, hotels and take away venues in Durham have taken part in awareness training to spot violence and sexual harassment against women. Look out for the Step in Aware sticker and if you witness or experience an incident of violence or sexual harassment, report it to a Step in Aware business, or contact the police.