LANCASHIRE'S next Chief Constable visited West Craven to launch a new system of community policing and meet the officers involved.

Deputy Chief Constable, Paul Stephenson is due to take over as the county's "top cop" when Pauline Clare's term of office ends in July. He was in West Craven to launch a new structure of local policing aimed at forging stronger links between particular officers and people on their designated beats.

The opportunity for changes came about following a county-wide move from a four week to a five week rota and the changes are a response to feedback from local people concerned about police cover.

The changes will mean the appointment of five officers as "Community Beat Managers", with specific responsibility for their designated beats and only seconded to other duties as an emergency measure and with approval at Chief Inspector level.

They will also mean a Sergeant will be kept at Barnoldswick to co-ordinate the new community beat team and the day-to-day policing of West Craven.

West Craven's dedicated mobile patrol will also be retained at all times, ensuring a fast response to emergency calls. The existing 24-hour cover will be backed up by extra patrols at peak times.

The new system is designed to give the best of both worlds, providing grass roots community policing without any loss of round-the-clock fast response cover. It has already proved popular in other parts of the Police's Pennine Division, where 18 Community Beat Managers are in place.

Mr Stephenson told the Herald: "The Constabulary and the Police Authority are absolutely committed to the concept of local policing, with local cops who know local people."

But he added that senior officers had to be realistic about the resources available to them.

"What we will not do is over-promise and under-deliver. There won't be a cop on every street corner, but wherever we have the money we will roll out more and more community beat officers, because people have told us that is what they want."