Crest Nicholson sends in the dogs

Even though St John’s School, which is located on Crest Nicholson’s St Johns Park development in Marlborough, currently lies empty, it is still providing essential education and the opportunity for Wiltshire’s finest to brush up on their skills.

The school, which is scheduled to be demolished in March to make way for a forthcoming phase of Crest Nicholson’s 169-home development, is being used by Wiltshire Police to carry out their dog and firearms training. The dogs – all German Shepherds, Rottweilers and Malinois – will be training on the site several times a week until March.

The dogs are being trained to locate a person, who may be trapped or hidden, and on finding them alert their handler to their presence by barking. This could be a missing person or child who has disappeared as well as criminal suspects who have hidden from police. By undertaking training at St John’s School, the dogs and their handlers get essential real-life experience.

Sales Manager for Crest Nicholson’s St Johns Park development, Laura Osborne, explained: “Crest Nicholson prides itself on not only building top quality homes, but also creating communities that people aspire to live in. Wiltshire Police do a very commendable job across the county so we were very happy to be able to offer these premises for them to carry out this vital training.

“The St Johns Park development is in an idyllic location with great views across the hills. This training has also been beneficial to the site helping to keep the school building safe whilst it has been empty.”

Bob Pocock, Head of Wiltshire Police Dog Section, said: “We are committed to reducing levels of vandalism and other forms of anti-social behaviour throughout the county. This scheme will not only act as a deterrent but will provide the police with large buildings in which to train our dogs, which we are very grateful for. This scheme is an excellent example of how we can work together with the business and local community to combat crime.”

There are a number of attractive three and four bedroom properties on offer at St Johns Park, all of which have a garage and parking space. Prices at St Johns Park currently start at £249,950 for a three bedroom ‘Kensington’ and range to £444,950 for a four bedroom ‘Tetbury’. For more information, or to receive the new brochure for phase two, contact the on-site Sales and Marketing Suite or go online to crestnicholson.com.