IT could be a thankless task.

It certainly represents Northwich police's bid to grasp the nastiest nettle of them all. But the staff of the new Community Contact scheme believe they are worthy of the challenge.

"The main aim is to get back into contact with the public, in a way we don't feel we have for some time," said its orchestrator, Sergeant Kath Booth.

"We have been perceived as taking things away from the residents, but this is what we are doing to give something back."

These are brave words. But Sgt Booth and her team are brave people.

Their brief has been constructed from a survey which was sent earlier this year to every home in Vale Royal. In it, residents were asked what their greatest fears were in terms of community safety.

The answers they gave have become the priorities for the Northwich-based team.

The main concerns were:

Young people, in both positive and negative lights

Property crime

Vehicle crime

Antisocial behaviour

Drugs, including alcohol

Road safety.

And although it wasn't an issue in the survey, a great many people wanted to know about beat bobbies. They disappeared from Northwich streets last year, as Superintendent Ian Johns and his management team began a quest to put their stretched finances to the best possible use.

Sgt Booth explained: "The essential thing about this whole idea, which stems right from the identification of the problems in the survey, is that it is a partnership.

"It's about working closely with the local authorities and with interest groups to get the right result."

This word 'partnership', however, has caused extreme unrest in the community, basically because its meaning has been poorly-defined - until now.

Many parish councillors - by and large volunteers looking to have the most basic input into their towns and villages - were alarmed to hear that they were being asked to tackle nuisance, if not crime, themselves. It sounded to them like they were being told to police their own villages.

But Sgt Booth is quick to stress that that is not the issue, adding: "It is just about working together. With the right flow of information, we as a police force will not just be chasing the problems.

"We will be able to take positive action to attack the root causes first."

As part of that bold idea, the police will be working closely with, for example, the Cheshire Probation Service. They will have contacts within social services. They will be aware of which known offenders are at large, and where they like to go.

They will - they hope - be able to rely on particular councils and individuals to keep them informed of the hotspots and the significant worries.

So in a sense, Sgt Booth and her team will become the public face of Northwich police. They are the ones on whom councillors, youth groups and community centres can call for a personal presentation on the new ideas.

They are also the ones who will handle criticism and - again hopefully - praise of the renewed police profile.

Their soon-to-be-introduced hotline is one example of how the project helps the situation at the Chesterway police headquarters.

The general police number - 01606 48000 - very often becomes clogged with calls, and all too often, someone is ringing that number to ask about a lost dog or a late-night chemist while someone else is trying to ring in an assault.

No-one doubts that both types of call are important. But one is essential.

So the team, which comprises of Sgt Booth, plus Inspector Kevin Lunn and PCs Pete Gaskell and Keith Robbins, will be on hand to answer more routine enquiries about the police service, and hopefully ease up the pressure on 48000.

Superintendent Ian Johns, the head of Northwich police, is perhaps understandably anxious to end talk of the beat bobby, as he sends the Community Contacts scheme on its way.

He feels the old argument has raged back and forth for too long now. He has been challenged to show the people of Vale Royal his idea of something better, and he believes he has done so.

"I accept that we haven't said as much as we should about what comes in their stead up until now," he said.

"But we have now. It's a team effort, from them, from us, from our partners at the borough and county councils, and from the community.

"Beat bobbies are not coming back because they would simply be wandering around waiting for incidents that aren't happening. Yes, they may know some locals and they may have a reassurance value, but that does not make them more effective in gathering intelligence, knowing about the criminals and the places they operate, and targeting them properly.

"This is an excellent team, and we are all 100 per cent behind them."

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