'Police have let me down' (From Free Press Series)

'Police have let me down'

AN ANGRY Chepstow mum has hit out at local police after calling them to investigate the antics of three men she found in her garden in the early hours of the morning.

Mrs Jo Marsden called the police after she was woken by her tiny Yorkshire Terrier. She got up and saw three men in her garden, one of them with her daughter's bike in his hands.

Worried that the bike was going to be taken, Mrs Marsden shouted at the men and they ran off. The three were later found by the police who had responded quickly to Mrs Marsden's call for help.

But she has now been told by police that no action will be taken against the men because no crime was committed.

She said: "At first I was pleased the police had responded so quickly, and went on to pick up the lads, which was brilliant."

But she added that when she went to the police station later, she was told by a police sergeant that a crime had not been committed.

"Should I have watched until the crime had been committed first rather than scare them off? They were also trespassing on my property."

She feels it was a waste of time calling the police and added that it had dented her confidence in them for the future.

A police spokesman said: "We had a report at 3.30am on March 5, concerning three men looking at a car and a bike. Three men were checked in the area after the incident, but there was no evidence to suggest they had done anything wrong."