‘I use this ancient Japanese technique to ward off criminals in Oxford’

Councillor David Henwood has been patrolling the streets of Littlemore, Oxford, with hyōshigi (Picture: Tom Wren / SWNS)

A suburb in Oxford has discovered that the answer to crime prevention may not lie in CCTV, Ring doorbells, or neighbourhood WhatsApp groups, but in two pieces of wood banged together.

After a spate of tyre slashings and knife attacks, residents of Littlemore have begun tackling crime with the historic Japanese method of hyōshigi.

Hyōshigi is a basic musical...