CIVILIANS will soon be helping the police in Warrington to clamp down on problems of disorder and anti-social behaviour in the town.

Six community support officers - selected from members of the public - are soon to be employed as part of a national trial to work with the Risley Community Action Team.

Supt Phil Thompson, Warrington's most senior police officer, spoke about the project this week after the Home Office approved a funding bid for the specialised officers.

The civilians will hopefully become the 'eyes and ears of the community' and assist Community Action Team officers working in the north east sector of Warrington.

The new community support officers - who will be chosen from many different backgrounds - will not have any detention powers, or the authority to arrest people, but could be seen on the streets of Warrington by next May.

They will be highly visible, uniformed civilians, with the power to issue fixed penalty tickets for disorder and anti-social behaviour.

Sgt Graeme Birmingham, head of the Risley CAT team, said: "The six new community officers will work hand in glove with police officers, deployed in hot spot areas. If minor disorder problems occur, the support and police officers can deal with that together. However, they will not be officers, rather an additional post created by the Government."

Sgt Birmingham highlighted the situation in Halton, where police are helped by wardens, providing a high-visibility presence around retail and business areas.