Police officers have targeted criminals, worked with partner agencies and enforced home closures to tackle crime at an estate in Wokingham.
Police have been targeting criminals, working with partner agencies and enforcing home closures to tackle crime on the Norreys Estate in Wokingham.
The estate, near the town centre and home to thousands of residents, has been identified by Thames Valley Police as an area of increased activity. Officers outlined their work at a Wokingham Borough Council meeting on 27 November 2025.
Felicity Parker, the Local Command Unit Commander for Berkshire West, said officers have worked to protect vulnerable residents from "cuckooing" — where criminals take over a person's home to use it for crimes such as drug dealing, storing weapons or sex work.
“We've done some excellent work. Initially, we have scoped to see which individuals we felt were at risk and we highlighted 24 people who we felt were being exploited, cuckooed, involved in drug offences, were victims and offenders of violent offences and we have done an awful lot of positive intervention in partnership around that.
“Now what's really important is that my neighbourhood teams are well connected, so that we know what the right outcome is and we use the support that is available, whether it's mental health, physical health, drug support, support for domestic abuse, housing etc so we can make sure that we are trying to make some difference in the long term and I believe we've really worked well in the Norreys estate in able to do that.
“From our point of view, we are the police, we are here to use our powers and investigate, and we have in the Norrey estate had 96 successful charges, with seven prolific offenders involved in that.”
One local, Mohamed Khan, 41, from Wokingham, was jailed after admitting to the supply of crack cocaine and heroin at Reading Crown Court on 1 December 2025.
Police have also used closure orders under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which can evict a tenant for breaches and bar non-residents from a property. A three-month closure was imposed on a property in Long's Way following reports of anti-social behaviour and drug dealing in February last year.
“We've also used our powers to close certain addresses as well, and 12 people are currently in prison for some of the crimes that they've been committing in that area.
“We made lots of referrals for different services, and rehousing has happened.”
Officers are working with community mental health teams and drug and alcohol charities. Rehousing is the responsibility of the borough council.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
