Wrexham is the firestarter central for North Wales, with almost half of all the region’s deliberate blazes – 47% – occurring in the county last year.
Residents of Wrexham are almost three times more likely to be the victims of a deliberate fire than anywhere else in North Wales and levels of arson in the county are among the highest in England and Wales.
Among the main troublespots is Caia Park where firebugs have struck 55 times in the past year.
The £10,000 will be allocated to the Wrexham County Borough Council ’s local partnership delivery board responsible for public safety and inclusion and will be used for community safety initiatives.
Mr Roddick said: “This is a pernicious problem in Wrexham and it will be up to the board, the people on the ground to come up with an action plan to be agreed by me to stop this menace.
“We need to be spelling out what we are doing with the money because this problem has been going on for a very long time.
“We need to involve the people of Wrexham in the solution because together we can end this.”
The castle at The Venture play area in Caia Park that was set alight
But he ruled out giving a cash reward to catch the culprits arguing it would not be an “appropriate” use of public money.
He said: “I am making this money available because it wouldn’t be an appropriate use of public money to offer a reward and a single conviction would not go anywhere near solving this problem.”
Councillor Hugh Jones, Wrexham County Borough Council’s lead member for community safety, has welcomed the Police Commissioner’s action.
He said: “Having worked in partnership with the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to identify the most effective way of tackling the problem of arson, this is a very positive move by the Commissioner and is an excellent award for the county.
“Unfortunately Wrexham has become a hotspot for arson attacks, the worst in North Wales, and this initiative is very important in having a beneficial outcome and should be welcomed.”
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