Crimestoppers heading for city.

LIVERPOOL will be the crime fighting capital of the UK with the arrival of the national Crimestoppers conference.

The anonymous crime hotline charity has chosen the Liner Hotel for its annual conference, which begins tomorrow.

It is seen as a big coup for the city and crime fighting experts from across the country will talk about the charity's future.

It will also provide the first big stage for the new man at the head of Merseyside Crimestoppers.

Former policeman Ian MacDonald has big plans.

Mr MacDonald said: "Having the Crimestoppers national conference come to Liverpool is a great honour and we will show the delegates the best this city has to offer.

"We have a simple but demanding vision - to be the best Crimes toppers in the country. "The big issue for us is gun crime. We want to take down those who have guns, in particular those who supply the weapons.

"We are not the police. We do not know who you are when you call us and the police do not know either.

"If people know about crime but do not want to go to the police for whatever reason, they can turn to us.

"By making an anonymous phone call, they can do their bit to help make Merseyside a safer place."

Last year, calls to Crimestoppers in Merseyside directly led to the arrest of nearly 200 suspects, while almost 3,500 calls were followed up by the police with some sort of action.

Crimestoppers also helped to seize pounds 1.1m of drugs and saw pounds 165,000 in criminal assets recovered, along with seven guns.

. Contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.