NOMINATIONS for the Hereford BID Business Awards 2017 have now closed.

The judges will be carefully looking through all of the entries and there will be a supplement highlighting all of the entries which have been shortlisted.

The awards have been set up to celebrate all that the 500 members of the BID do to make the city centre a great place to be and shop.

But it is also to recognise the good work which the BID do in Hereford.

One of their initiatives is to reduce crime in the city to make it a safer place to be.

Mike Truelove, HBID's operations and marketing manager, said they have invested in a new app-based system called DISC, which will be used for reporting crime and monitoring threats from known offenders.

The app will work in a similar way to Facewatch, and BID members who have signed up to the app will be able to share information on shoplifters, for example, or subjects of interest.

Mr Truelove said: "They are closed groups for the security of city retailers and businesses and clubs and so on. It is a closed group where information is shared about people that cause antisocial behaviour or shoplifting.

"There is still data protection rules. We wouldn't just upload anybody. The police input into that. They can look at who is on there- it can really help with fighting crime and reducing antisocial behaviour."

Mr Truelove said DISC is widely used by BIDS across the country.

He added: "Our aim is at the moment- there are 70 to 80 users on Facewatch. We are going to transfer those and move them across to DISC. It will take a couple of months."

Some of DISC's features include integrated image-capture and voice-to-text recording for reporting incidents; and the ability to easily transfer CCTV images into incident and intelligence reports.

Mr Truelove said: "It is really easy for businesses to get involved. If you are a small shop to one of the multinationals you can just get involved and tap into the surrounding community and see what's going on in the city."

Hereford BID holds weekly meeting with many partners such as police, Vennture, security guards and others to discuss and manage low level crime issues.

They are also planning to introduce day time ambassadors on the streets of Hereford, to complement the Vennture initiative for the night time economy.