BEAT officers in Newton Aycliffe were kept busy all day at a crime prevention surgery held in a town supermarket.

Hundreds of people paused at the stand, set up in the new Tesco supermarket yesterday to ask for information and advice.

PC Stan Webster and PC Helen Young, beat officers for the town, were joined by crime prevention officers from Durham Constabulary for the event, which surpassed expectations.

PC Webster said: "The idea was to give members of the public in Newton Aycliffe crime prevention advice.

"We've been asked about a range of topics including car parking, anti-social behaviour and cars racing round streets.

"People have asked about personal attack alarms and advice on alarm systems and we've even been approached by some people who want to establish a Neighbourhood Watch scheme."

A Mercedes traffic vehicle which had all the latest police equipment was brought along to keep children amused.

PC Webster, who praised the support from Tesco staff, said the event had proved such a success that another was planned for a Saturday.

He said: "The good thing is that people were coming up to us, as opposed to us having to stop them."