Man arrested after robberies on Peterborough fast-food delivery drivers

The 26-year-old from Peterborough has been bailed to return to Thorpe Wood Police Station on April 29.

The first incident happened at about 10.35pm on Thursday (April 11) in Eastholm Close, Eastfield Road.

The second was in Holmes Way, Paston, at about 2.20am on Saturday (April 13), and the latest incident took place in Dunstan Court, Eastfield, at about 12.35am on Sunday morning (April 14).

In all offences the victims have been delivering food but have been attacked by a group of men who have made off with the food and cash.

Anyone with information should report online at www.cambs.police.uk/report or call 101. Always dial 999 if someone is in immediate danger or a crime is in progress.

Advice to keep delivery drivers safe

· Use a database of all telephone order customers, containing addresses, telephone numbers and details of the customer. All orders can then be verified by telephone. Obviously, if an address has been used to make a bogus call in the past, this address should be refused service. Having a database will give you good evidence for this, should there be a complaint.

· When an order is placed, call the telephone number for that address to confirm that they have placed an order or not and that the address is correct.

· Use a credit/debit card system for all telephone/online orders, again eliminating the need to carry cash. Consider the ‘pay cash’ on delivery option from your website. Pre-paying for food eliminates the need for staff to carry cash and therefore mitigates the risk of a crime occurring.

· Consider going to some areas in pairs, especially at night.

· Always use customer call backs, either by the delivery driver or staff at the store.

· Make sure you have a personal attack alarm on your person.

· Customers must come to the vehicle to collect orders; this negates the need for the delivery staff to leave their vehicle, which can be kept locked and therefore gives a level of security to staff.

· Use your judgement on whether a situation feels safe or not and never take risks.