The mostly British residents of the Monte Solana residential estate on in Pedreguer yesterday launched their own Neighbourhood Watch scheme after both day and nighttime robberies started to increase in the area.

The scheme had already been running in the Vega Baja area of Alicante province and in the process has managed to reduce robberies by as much as 20%.

Under the new scheme, there will be seventeen "coordinators" watching over nine zones, and when someone notices anything suspicious, that person makes a call to his or her coordinator who then informs the local police of the Guardia Civil.

In every case, it will be the security forces that intervene, and the scheme clearly states that no patrols of any sort will be undertaken.

At yesterday's official presentation, Pedreguer mayor Vicent Costa gave his wholehearted support to the scheme.