BBC Radio York Features

Gillian Lancaster is so worried about her personal safety whilst dog-walking in her home town of Knaresborough that she's employed the services of a private security firm.

She says it quells her fears to know there's someone at the end of the phone if she needs it.

"There's a number I can ring, so if I do feel that someone is following me or somebody's behaving strangely I can actually be on the phone to somebody, telling them if I feel I'm in danger."

Stuart Stead is the founder of Malton-based company Alert Ltd. He denies his firm is undermining the traditional emergency services.

"The member would call us directly as opposed to calling 999 whereby we can immediately get their location.

"We have all of their medical details to hand and their 'in case of emergency' contacts. We would then liaise on their behalf with the emergency services. We aren't trying to replace the emergency services, we're actually trying to enhance them."

Chris Wyatt is another example of North Yorkshire's entrepreneurs cashing in on people's dissatisfaction with public services. Soon his fleet of dumper trucks will come and collect your rubbish for a fee.

He says he's offering a service that has a variety of potential customers.

"The three categories of customers are the people who have too much rubbish and would have to take it to a council site themselves and don't want to have it in their car.

"The people who don't want their rubbish hanging round for 14 days. And the people who recognise that it's more environmentally friendly to have their rubbish collected by one vehicle than everyone make their individual trips to the tip."

Your views...

Private Security: it's the personal security that is particularly valuable as the halfway house to the emergency services, handling calls that they wouldn't take.
Kath Wright

I am a member of Aert Limited, the security gives me that extra piece of mind when living on my own.
Euince Cooper

I think its an excellent idea, if the public services cannot cope or don't give an good enough service then why not pay someone else to do it.  The public services do not always bend over backwards to help.  I like the idea of the security part, quite often I feel nervous leaving work alone, this would give me added secuiryt in the event of an emergency. Excellent ideas.
Christine Dunn