POLICE are planning to recruit new lay visitors for the millennium to inspect the conditions under which criminals are detained.

Members of the public will be drafted in to provide an independent and impartial inspection of custody areas.

These visits help to maintain and improve standards of detention and provide an important link between the community and the police.

Winsford and Middlewich residents interested in the task must be over 18 years of age. They cannot be former or serving police officers, employees of the probation service or magistrates.

Rupert Nichols, chairman of Cheshire Police Authority, explained: "Lay visiting in Cheshire is provided by three panels of visitors, drawn from members of the public, who make unannounced visits to police stations to observe and comment on the conditions under which people are being detained.

"Last year, lay visitors made a total of 284 visits, and of the 700 persons being detained at the time of the visits, 254 consented to meeting the lay visitors.

"Of the detainees seen, the main issues raised related to food or drink, bedding, heating or ventilation and medical problems."

Mr Nichols added: "The majority of the issues raised by the detainees are resolved immediately."

The Police Authority will next be recruiting new lay visitors in the spring of 2000. National Lay Visiting Day takes place on Wednesday, January 20.

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