ISLANDERS have been warned not to rely on Facebook for crime and burglary information amid claims that it increases the fear of crime, according to a Canvey inspector.

Insp Fergus Caulfield, from the Castle Point and Rochford community policing team, has spoken out about the use of social media to draw attention to crime amid a recent increase in burglaries on the island.

Islanders often turn to Facebook pages such as Canvey Island Crimewatch and Canvey Island Community to warn others about suspicious behaviour or when they have been a victim of crime.

The pages have seen more posts than usual over recent days, as the island has been targeted by burglars in the early hours of the morning.

The Facebook posts led to a resident suggesting a group should be formed to patrol the island, with one terrified woman claiming she was taking a baseball bat to bed.

Mr Caulfield said: “Sometimes using Facebook is quite good because you can circulate information easily, but it can also give a false impression of what’s going on.

“Constantly reporting crime on such a small network does increase the fear of crime, which people wouldn’t know about years ago.

“I think people need to understand the bigger picture - the number of burglaries compared to the population is quite small, it is just because it is all in one place.

“We use social media. It can be brilliant to circulate CCTV and try and retrieve lost or stolen items.

“Instead of posting CCTV on Facebook, it needs to be sent to police. And if anyone wants to volunteer to carry out patrols, we have a fantastic active citizen initiative that is already set up, where people can volunteer to help the police.”

Funding has been allocated to increase the visible presence of police on Canvey at dawn - which is when criminals have been most active recently.

It came at the same time as officers carried out a day-of-action on island aimed at pinning down thieves.

Officers carried out high-visibility patrols and spoke with islanders about their perception of crime on Canvey, while other intelligence-led operations were carried out to track down suspected burglars.

Anyone with information about burglaries on the island can call Essex Police on 101 or crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.