Cheltenham BID puts security officers on town centre streets

Uniformed security officers are now patrolling Cheltenham town centre on Friday and Saturday nights and on Sunday afternoons. They are paid for by Cheltenham BID, the body funded by a levy on town centre businesses. The scheme started on Friday 25 September as a three-month pilot. (Cheltenham BID, Community Safety Officers)

The BID says two officers will patrol during key evening and weekend periods. Their focus is anti-social behaviour and support for businesses that trade late into the night.

When they are on the streets

The BID has published fixed patrol hours:

That is 36 hours of cover a week. The BID adds that “key Bank Holiday periods” will also be covered “where appropriate”. There are no weekday patrols.

A three-month pilot from 25 September runs to around the end of December, so it covers the Christmas trading season. The Christmas market on the Promenade, 10 to 23 December, falls inside it (see our Christmas market story).

Who they are

The officers are not police and not council staff. The BID says the pilot is contracted to the security firm Primeguard UK and “fully funded” by the BID.

The BID’s page introduces a team of four. All are described as door supervisors or security officers, and two list experience working at licensed venues in Cheltenham.

The BID lists their role as:

• regular engagement with town centre businesses
• reassurance for staff, customers and visitors
• responding to concerns about anti-social behaviour
• acting as a point of contact for businesses
• supporting partners in keeping the town centre safe

The page does not describe any enforcement powers. Nor does it say what the pilot costs. The BID says it will judge the scheme on feedback from businesses and partners before deciding whether it continues.

What the police figures show

Cheltenham Town Centre is one of Gloucestershire Constabulary’s neighbourhood areas. We pulled every record the force published for it on data.police.uk for the twelve months to January 2026. That is the most recent full year available. (police.uk, Cheltenham Town Centre)

Over those twelve months the town centre neighbourhood recorded:

• 3,220 crimes and anti-social behaviour incidents in total
• 858 violent and sexual offences
• 787 anti-social behaviour incidents, about 66 a month
• 262 public order offences

Anti-social behaviour peaked at 84 reports in September 2025. The lowest month was December 2025, with 47.

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Two limits matter here. Police.uk records the month of an incident but not the time of day, so it cannot show whether problems cluster in the Friday and Saturday night hours the officers will work. And Gloucestershire has published almost no street-level records for February 2026 onwards. So there is no public baseline yet for the months the pilot runs, and no way for residents to check its effect from police figures alone.

What it means for you

• In an emergency, still call 999. The officers are private security staff, not a replacement for the police. Non-emergency crime goes to Gloucestershire Constabulary on 101 or online.
• If you run a town centre business, the officers are meant to be your point of contact on patrol nights. The BID asks businesses to give feedback, which will decide whether the scheme lasts beyond December. Its contact details are on the BID’s safety officer page.
• If you are out late in town, patrols run until 4am on Friday and Saturday nights. Look for black jackets carrying the Cheltenham BID and Primeguard UK badges.

Separately, Cheltenham Borough Council is consulting on renewing its Public Spaces Protection Order, including a proposed borough-wide ban on camping overnight without consent. Comments close on 19 October (our PSPO story). The BID itself has a new chief executive from this autumn (our earlier story).

If you are driving in for an evening, our parking guide lists the town centre car parks and their charges.