Terror training for town security staff

Lingwood Security on Penrod Way has made it a mandatory requirement for its employees to take a counter terrorism awareness course called Project Griffin.

This was developed by the City of London Police and introduced in London in April 2004 to advise managers, security officers and employees of large public and private sector organisations across the capital on security, counter terrorism and crime prevention issues.

“We are not doing this is response to the Paris incident, this is something that we have been planning as we are aware of the threat and we want to be pro-active rather than re-active to incidents across the globe,” said a spokesman for Lingwood Security.

The first course for around 20 members of staff took place last week. A spokesman said: “It went really well and it was beneficial to the staff.

“They were taught what to look out for and what to do in a situation, how to protect themselves and people around them.

“Other staff across the country will be taking part as well.”

The course includes input from police, information on current threats, do’s and don’ts, and knowledge of how explosive devices operate.

Lingwood Security staff work all over the country and overseas.

Clients include rail network operators, construction firms, educational and health providers, government agencies, as well as local companies. The business was set up by Morecambe man Alan Lingwood in 1995.

Training began at the firm’s office on January 21.