THE national Purple Flag accreditation scheme has once again deemed Chelmsford safe and vibrant at night.

The prestigious Purple Flag has been awarded to Chelmsford for the excellent management of the city centre at night.

To celebrate national Purple Flag week this week, from 27 September to 5 October, the city’s bars and restaurants are inviting residents and visitors to come and enjoy the safe and enjoyable city of Chelmsford.

As part of Purple Flag Week partners from Open Road and Westminster Drug Project were inside High Chelmer Shopping Centre on Monday September 29 raising awareness about alcohol consumption and carrying out brief interventions with members of the public.

The Community Safety Team and the Chelmsford Alcohol Network outreach practitioners also attended the Fresher’s Fair at Anglia Ruskin University to promote safe and sensible drinking education.

The Purple Flag scheme aims to raise standards and improve the quality of the night-time economy, and promotes Chelmsford as a first-rate night-time destination.

To achieve Purple Flag status, which is similar to the Blue Flag for beaches and Green Flag for parks, towns and cities must be welcoming to everyone, offer safe ways for visitors to travel home, provide a good mix of venues and be appealing in the evenings.

Chelmsford City Council’s Community Safety team work all year round with partners such as Essex Police, East of England Ambulance Service, the city’s bars and venues, taxi marshals and volunteer street pastors, to meet these criteria and make Chelmsford a pleasurable place to visit.

Part of the Council’s strategy into improving the night time economy in Chelmsford was an academic study that the Safer Chelmsford Partnership commissioned Anglia Ruskin University to undertake.

The objectives of the report were to analyse the impact of the night time economy and to highlight recommendations for improvement.

Cabinet Member for Safer Communities, Councillor Grundy said: “The report confirms that Chelmsford has a safe and vibrant night time economy and that the existing interventions are having a positive impact in terms of crime and anti-social behaviour reduction, drinking habits, pastoral care, perceptions of crime and making customers feel safe, and reducing the financial burden on the emergency services.”

To view to report, visit www.chelmsford.gov.uk/communitysafety.

To find out more about the Purple Flag scheme and what it means to be awarded Purple Flag status, please visit: www.atcm.org.