A POLICE shake-up is giving beat bobbies a key role at the heart of Wear Valley communities in response to public demand.

The new team will be travelling by bus instead of panda car to get even closer to the people of their patch.

From next week they will spend their working days and nights in designated towns and villages between Willington and Weardale.

PC Dawn Clarke will cover Stanhope and Frosterley, Ian Craggs will go to Wolsingham, Karl Hopps has an established beat in Tow Law, Phil McElhone will be in Witton-le-Wear and Howden.

Graham Milne and Kelly Hawkes will share Crook, Roddymoor and Billy Row, and Steve Barker and Simon Schofield will cover Willington, Hunwick, Sunnybrow and Oakenshaw.

Insp George Ledger, of Crook police station, hopes to extend the scheme to Upper Weardale.

He said: "This is what people have said they want. At every partnership meeting they say they want local beat officers who they recognise and can identify with.

"They will become our eyes and ears on the ground, making contact with every community group and dealing with long term community problems.

"They will be based at Crook but spend as much time as possible of their eight-hour shifts in their area. Overall staffing levels will stay the same.

"They will travel on service and school buses because that is where people are. Using the school transport will give them a chance to speak to children, because it is easy to forget that they are members of the public as well."

Police in Willington are cashing in on a bank closure this week by setting up their section office in the redundant bulding.

The new base for PCs Barker and Schofield and their colleagues will be an upstairs room in the former Barclays branch now used as a resource centre for the town's community partnership.

Sgt Brian Maudling leads the team. He said: "The new office is on the main road, right in the heart of the community."