The public will be able to tell police about areas where they feel unsafe by reporting the locations on a new online map.

StreetSafe, a new digital pilot, will allow people to anonymously log areas of concern – such as poorly lit walkways, or places they have experienced harassment.

The data will then be collected and used to make areas safer, such as through night-time patrols or the installation of better street lighting.

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The idea is aimed primarily at tackling violence against women and girls.

Safeguarding minister Victoria Atkins said: “No one should fear walking the streets, but for too many women and girls, the threat of intimidation and harassment whilst going about their everyday lives is all too familiar.

“StreetSafe allows the public to flag concerns directly to police, ensuring that those responsible for making our streets safer use the data to improve safety and understand how local areas can better respond.”

The map will be available on the national policing website police.uk for three months while the pilot takes place.

It is not intended as an alternative for reporting serious incidents and will allow people to raise concerns with the police regardless of whether a crime has been committed. As it is anonymous, police won’t be able to take action on individual incidents.

The online map will ask where the incident happened, why it felt unsafe, why it hasn’t been reported to the police and questions about age, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and disabilities.

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