The Week Unzipped: More than half a million 'have a go' neighbours reduce crime rates by a third

CRIME-conscious neighbours are putting their safety at risk by confronting criminals, research from Halifax Home Insurance has revealed.

Almost 630,000 people intervened when they saw anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhood last year. Watchful citizens helped reduce crime rates including burglary, car beak-ins and vandalism by nearly a third, according to the research.

Neighbourhood interventions directly led to 215,000 arrests in the last 12 months. The most effective actions people took were to report suspicious behaviour to the police or call the homeowner to inform them about unusual activity.

However, Halifax warns that some security-conscious neighbours may be risking their own safety. The insurer strongly advises homeowners against confronting a law-breaker face to face rather than calling the authorities.

Martyn Foulds, senior claims manager at Halifax Home Insurance, said: "There is a fine line between intervening and risking your own safety, and we would urge homeowners to report anything suspicious to the professionals and leave it to them to take direct action."

Higher fares on track

Scottish rail passengers could see the cost of travelling soar by up to 10 per cent from January to compensate for spending cuts.

Rail fare rises are currently capped at inflation plus 1 per cent, but the Department for Transport could change that to inflation plus 2 or 3 per cent in the autumn.

Transport Scotland, the government agency responsible for rail services, said there were no plans to abandon the price ceiling. However, the organisation did not commit to keep the formula which would see the fares cap at 6 per cent in line with inflation, so that the price of a return from Glasgow to Edinburgh would increase from 18.70 to 19.84.

UK transport secretary Philip Hammond said nothing can be ruled out until the spending review in October. "This is not a normal year. The scale of the financial crisis we have inherited means that we will have to make some tough decisions in the spending review which concludes this autumn. I am therefore not yet in a position to determine next year's fare increase.

Energy prices rise

Energy prices are continuing to rise with Ovo Energy the latest provider to increase its tariff.

The fixed-rate tariff, which is the cheapest on the market, has upped its price by 18 to 944 for the average user.

uSwitch.com advises that online tariffs remain the best option for households looking for cheap fixed deals, with the average standard bill now at 1,194.

Ombudsman's order

The Financial Ombudsman Service has ordered the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society to repay 28,000 to a couple after selling them a policy from troubled investment firm Keydata.

The building society advised the elderly couple to invest 28,000 into four Keydata policies in 2007.The firm went into administration last year, leaving most of the 460 million invested by 30,000 investors at risk. Norwich & Peterborough sold Keydata policies to around 3,500 customers but denies any liability for their losses.