A POLICE bid for extra cash to help keep women safe across Dorset during the night-time has been rejected.

Dorset Police and Dorset Council joined forces to reel in more cash to help make it safer for women and girls at night as part of the Government's Safety of Women at Night (SWaN) Fund.

It follows last month's successful bid of £380,000 bid from parliament's £23.5m Safer Streets Fund.

Home Secretary Priti Patel announced the successful bids across England and Wales for projects from the SWaN bid, with police and local authorities in the south west region receiving a total of £494,884.69. However, none of the cash was awarded to the Dorset area due to not enough being available.

A spokeswoman on behalf of Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Dorset, David Sidwick said: "In recent months, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) has submitted a number of ambitious bids to competitive grant processes - including the Safety for Women and Night (SWaN) fund – to secure extra money to keep our communities safe.

"Although the OPCC had success with securing over £200,000 to tackle domestic abuse earlier this month, unfortunately the SWaN bid was not selected by the Home Office.

"The Home Office has explained that the bids received from all forces were far in excess of the total funding available."

Bournemouth Echo: The Government has rejected a cash boost bid to protect women across Dorset. The bid was made by David Sidwick's Office of Police and Crime Commissioner for DorsetThe Government has rejected a cash boost bid to protect women across Dorset. The bid was made by David Sidwick's Office of Police and Crime Commissioner for Dorset

A spokesman from Dorset Council said the joint bid was made in August this year.

Although the bid was rejected, the PCC confirmed it is exploring how it can find other sources of funding in order to deliver a range of initiatives.

The spokeswoman added: "While this work is ongoing, we are delighted to announce that one vital element of the bid can be supported.

"This week, the PCC has funded the purchase of over 1,000 drink spiking testing kits, which will be made available in key locations, including hospitals, police stations and nightclubs across Dorset as well as almost 14,000 ‘stop-tops’ and ‘bottle-top spikes’, to help prevent drinks from being spiked.

"The OPCC and Dorset Police take the public concern over drink spiking seriously and are committed to getting to the root of the issue and the provision the testing kits just one, practical way in which this issue is being addressed in Dorset.

"Meanwhile the PCC will continue to develop and submit bids to central government funds to make every penny count for Dorset."