They burgled the Police Station at Bottesford and 'scarpered'

Deterring crime in the 1950's!

By David Middleton

From the scrapbook of Mrs. Dorothy Beedham
Bottesford Police Station in the 1950's
Bottesford Police Station in 2010
The Blue Lamp from Bottesford Police Station now hangs over the entrance of the Police Station, King Street, Melton Mowbray.
Google Street View

Although no longer a place of residence for the Police Sgt., Bottesford Police Station remains the centre of policing for the Vale of Belvoir.  However, it would seem that in the 1950’s a police presence was not sufficient to deter criminal activity judging by the article below taken from an edition of the Grantham Journal published in 1957. Maybe the criminals were more brazen or just plain daft!

Closure

On November 17th, 2010, Leicestershire Constabulary announced the closure of a number of police stations, including Bottesford’s Police Station (English Heritage Grade 2 listed), which has been the centre for policing the village and surrounding Vale communities for over 160 years. It was sold and has been converted into flats.

This page was added on 22/03/2008.

Comments about this page

  • Your story in the Grantham Journal took me back not only to my Bottesford chilhood home, but also to working there as an apprentice painter for Mr Allan Abbott.
    I vividly remember Sgt Wright who took over when my father Sgt Arthur Bradshaw retired.
    And on Monday morning after the event, Sgt Wright telling me tongue in cheek, I was the prime suspect.

    Regards Michael Bradshaw

    By Michael Bradshaw (23/03/2008)
  • Thanks Michael for adding this to the ‘story’ – you do wonder given the ineptitude of the intruders whether whether they had spent too much time in one of the local pubs!

    By David Middleton (23/03/2008)
  • I remember it well, I was the 17 year old son. There were five of us asleep in the Police Station and none of us heard a thing. The first we knew was when one of the postmen, Mr Brewster or Mr Wing, on their way to work in the early morning, woke us because the Police car was in the middle of Queen Street up near the Co-op with its doors open. The culprits were two escaped Borstal youths who stole two cycles from Bottesford and were later arrested in Lincolnshire. It is hard to think of it now but the Police Station doors, house front and back and the office door were never locked day or night. The keys were probably in the ignition of the Morris Minor police car. How things have changed in 50 years.

    By John Wright, Easthorpe Road, Bottesford (29/03/2008)
  • Thank you very much for adding these fascinating first hand recollections of this incident. We did not realise that there was a relative of Sergeant Wright still residing in the area. Please do get in contact should you wish to add further details and any photographs that may be available of his service at Bottesford Police Station, or any other recollections of what it was like to live there. Kind regards, David

    By David Middleton (30/03/2008)

Add a comment about this page

Your email address will not be published.