WHAT have meerkats got to do with a Dorset home watch scheme? It’s simples!

Meerkat signs are about to pop up across West Moors, urging residents to take their inspiration from the community-minded animals.

The idea behind the eye-catching publicity scheme is that meerkat families look out for each other, keep a constant eye out for danger and issue warnings if necessary.

And this is precisely how West Moors Home Watch chairman Roger Long wants his members to act.

He has also encouraged “curtain twitchers and nosey parkers” to join and swell the Home Watch numbers.

The 72-year-old said: “The signs were my idea, I was on holiday watching a TV programme about London and I saw these meerkat signs in the background.

“I want to see them around the schools and around the Plantation, they are quite big and I’m using them quite blatantly as a recruitment aid.

We’re also hoping children will spot them and ask their parents about them and they will prove a talking point.

“We want nosey parkers and curtain twitchers – that’s just my way of saying that I want people to be observant and report anything unusual. “West Moors has a very high elderly population and we’re trying to encourage people to look after everybody else. Plus the police are very stretched and likely to be more so with the Olympic sailing events happening in Weymouth this summer. I’m encouraging people to join Home Watch so we can look after one another.”

To join, call 01202 896939.