A community rocked by a knifepoint robbery met with police officers to discuss how crime is being tackled in their area.

More than 80 people were joined by three officers in Oxhey on January 15 for a public meeting.

On New Year's Eve, a robbery took place at knifepoint in Oxhey, and following reports of burglaries and antisocial behaviour, a meeting was called by community action group Oxhey Together.

Organiser Andrew Filer said: "After the robbery, residents were really worried with more than 240 voicing concerns within 48 hours of the incident. Based on this strength of feeling, we organised a meeting.

"So working closely with the police, we wanted to provide a forum where residents could meet the police and other professionals to discuss concerns and seek advice.

"The drop-in session at Bushey & Oxhey Methodist Church was a great success. Residents were able to discuss issues with the police and antisocial behavioural officers. Ward councillors were also invited to attend for people to talk to.

"We also had security companies in attendance to give advice on how to keep property secure."

A day later, police carried out a planned operation across Oxhey which involved both marked and unmarked patrols. Residents were spoken to, while police visited hotspot areas gathering intelligence. Stop and search was also carried out.

Sergeant Matt Langley, from the Watford outer safer neighbourhood team, said: "Three officers from my team, PC Danny Kachouh, PCSO Dominik Tokarczyk, and PCSO Sarah Thomas, attended a residents meeting in Oxhey.

"This was following a recent report of a robbery, burglary and anti-social behaviour which had caused residents understandable concern, so we welcomed the opportunity to speak to them on a face-to-face basis.

"We were able to directly reassure the community that extra funding had been secured for increased patrols which are already being carried out.

"We gathered further intelligence around key hotspot areas, meaning they were able to further streamline their plans of action and share this information with colleagues.

"The following day (January 16) a pre-planned proactive operation was conducted in the village. The day of action yielded some really encouraging results, as a number of stop searches were conducted and further intelligence on a number of people was recorded.

"Officers also engaged directly with those in commercial premises on Villiers Road, sharing safeguarding advice and addressing any concerns they had face-to-face.

“Sometimes, social media can create a further fear of crime by generating rumour and inaccurate information, so it was good to be able to share accurate details with those who attended.

"Aside from reassuring residents, these types of meetings are vital in helping us shape our policing priorities which are re-set every six months and we’ve since had some really positive feedback from the residents’ association.

"If you could not attend the meeting but would like to share your feedback on what matters most to you in terms of local policing, you can submit this information via echo here: bit.ly/police-watout"