A brazen thief walked past people in a playground after stealing a donation box from a church.

Between 11:15 and 11:20am on Saturday, April 29 a man walked into St John The Evangelist Church on Church Road in Copthorne, near Crawley and stole a donation box for the church.

The box was forced open to take the money – but it’s not known how much was stolen.

He then left walking past people enjoying the church’s facilities.

The man (below) is described as having grey hair, wearing a yellow high vis jacket and was carrying a bag.

If you recognise him please contact Sussex police on 101.

Or online quoting serial 31 of 02/05.

https://sussex.police.uk/news/thief-steals-church-donation-box-near-crawley/

A Crawley man has been charged with nine offences in connection with a number of armed robberies in West Sussex.

Andrew Hall, 33, of Dickens Road, was charged with two counts of robbery last month at Co-op stores in Haywards Heath and Cowfold, and attempted robbery at the Premier Convenience store in North Road, Crawley.

He was also charged with three firearms offences and possession of cannabis.

A 29-year-old Crawley woman who was arrested on suspicion of two counts of robbery has been released for further investigation.

Anyone with information about these robberies is asked to contact police by emailing 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk or ring 101 quoting Operation Bourbon or alternatively, you can call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 (www.crimestoppers-uk.org).

https://sussex.police.uk/news/man-arrested-and-charged-with-series-of-west-sussex-armed-robberies/

Proposals to extend Crawley’s Queens Square regeneration work along Queensway, The Pavement and Kingsgate are available to view and The Council wants to know what you think.

Plans include improved connectivity with Memorial Gardens and Queensway, enhanced lighting for safety, seating, cycle racks, more litter bins, disabled bays and better access for cars into Parkside Car Park.

The work is due to begin in 2018 and the council would like to get the views of the public and local businesses on the proposals.

The consultation runs until the 10th of March.

To see the proposals and fill out a short survey visit www.regeneratingcrawley.org.uk/queensway and click on the links provided.

Hundreds of drivers have been stopped and caught using their mobile phone behind the wheel during a week-long crackdown in Surrey to put a stop to the dangerous driving habit.

A total of 323 vehicles were stopped during the “It Can Wait” initiative which ran from 23 January to 29 January.

Local Officers were supporting a national week of action which saw 223 mobile phone related offences detected across the county.

As a result, 249 fixed penalty notices were issued; 42 drivers were given verbal warnings; 14 have been summonsed to court and five will be attending driver education courses.

On March 1st, the Fixed Penalty fine for using a hand held device when driving doubles from £100 to £200 and the number of penalty points for the offence increase from three points to six points.