A PRIVATE security firm is carrying out night-time patrols on an estate in a bid to stamp out crime.

The company has been drafted in to the Woodgrange estate, Southend, after a spate of vandalism and yobbish behaviour. An teenage girl was also raped there two weeks ago.

Residents have been handed the firm’s mobile phone number, which they can call if they spot any trouble brewing between 5pm and 5am.

The service is being paid for by Estuary Housing, who run the estate, and if the three-month pilot scheme proves successful, the firm, called Garde UK, could become a permanent fixture.

Spencer Gray co-owns the company which began business in 2008 by providing bodyguards for clients. It branched out into community protection work a year later.

He said the guards, who are all Security Industry Authority accredited, wear body cameras to capture evidence for prosecutions or evictions.

He said: “At the end of the day, we aren’t there to pry and snoop, we are there to ensure everyone is safe.

“I think about 90 per cent of residents are pleased to have such a service, just as a deterrent alone.”

A two-man team will patrol the estate where there was the rape of an 18-year-old girl in the car park beneath Coaster Steps, on Tuesday, May 8.

A spokeswoman for Estuary Housing said feedback would soon be sought from the community to see if they think the scheme is a winner.

She said: “We will be going out to talk to our residents to find out whether they think it’s been successful, and then we might extend the pilot depending on the feedback.

“But eventually the cost of it will be paid for by the tenants in their service charge.”

However, the spokesman explained any cost would be tempered as the residents would no longer have to pay for persistent vandalism.

Meanwhile the security firm plans to make use of the CCTV centre in Southend and bosses are hoping to connect with the town-link radio to further improve the service.

The company has worked on various estates, from Knightsbridge to Loughton, and often uses a ‘pay back’ scheme, which could also be rolled out in Southend.

This involves the firm part-funding, along with the housing association, new benches or flowerbeds to brighten up the area.

Mr Gray added: “The best thing you can do is get neighbours talking to each other, because over the years a lot of people have got a closed door’ attitude.”