INFLAMED councillors are bumping heads with a petrol station and hotel which they believe are wasting police resources.
Residents fear crime in the area is rising following a surge in car burglaries at the Premier Inn in Western Avenue, near Perivale Lane, and people not paying for petrol at the nearby BP Connect garage.
Ward councillor Justin Anderson has written a letter to the firms asking them to tighten their security, arguing that they are failing in their corporate responsibility to the community.
Mr Anderson said: “The real problem is we're paying for private services for private companies. BP and other large companies don't care for us. We should be looking after the streets but the police are all down at BP - they spend two or three hours down there every shift. It's looking bad on Perivale and it's not right. Our biggest problems are street drinking in Bilton Road and house burglaries.”
Mr Anderson said the garage in Western Avenue has the highest crime rate of any BP petrol station, according to police.
Garage manager Kailan Kailayapillia said: “There has been an increase in shoplifting and other things. The police come down a lot. We have CCTV but no security guards. We're doing more training of the staff to stop it. The customers don't complain because it's nothing to do with them.”
The manager of the Premier Inn, who asked not to be named, said: "I can confirm there's been an increase in crime. No longer than two hours ago someone had their car burgled. I don't know why it has peaked. We have a security person at night from 9pm to 6am and we have CCTV in the car park."
