CRAVEN'S four new police community support officers began walking the beat on Monday.

The officers will be out and about in the district every day helping to reduce the fear of crime and deter would be offenders.

Ian Cantlow, Gary Woollard, Ruth Grinrod and Stephen Garnett have had three weeks training at North Yorkshire Police headquarters.

Mr Cantlow, who has moved to the post from the control room at Skipton Police Station, said their job was to patrol the streets on foot, listening to people's concerns and offering the police presence residents had been asking for.

In just two hours on Monday he said five or six people had told him what a pleasure it was to see officers on patrol.

Mr Cantlow said he hoped to use the job as a stepping stone into the full time force.

He added: "Coming from Skipton and knowing that sometimes all you see is a police car drive past, to be out there so people can come and talk to us is a good move. We want to let people know that we are approachable."

The officers will not have powers of arrest but will be able to deal with minor disorder and quality of life issues. They will be able to seize alcohol from underage drinkers. The powers could be extended depending on how the role is developed.

Their presence on the streets is expected to act as a deterrent in areas where nuisance crimes are a problem. They will report suspicious activity and provide crime prevention advice.

Gary Woollard from Keighley worked as a technician in a furniture firm until it closed down. He saw an advert for the PCSO role and fancied the challenge.

Ruth Grinrod is from Embsay and Stephen Garnett was originally from Keighley and spent some time in South Africa before settling in Skipton.

Inspector Tad Nowakowski said: "The PCSOs will complement all the work that we are doing at the moment, especially with tackling nuisance crimes and our drive towards high visibility policing."

They will wear a uniform, similar to the regular officers, but it will be clearly marked Community Support Officer. They also wear a peaked hat similar to traffic officers.

Chief Constable Della Cannings said: "Not only will everyone see the practical benefits from this work, it will also free up valuable time for regular police officers, enabling them to concentrate on other issues and improve the quality of the service we provide."