A NATIONAL police recruitment drive is getting grassroots help from a local community partnership.

A North-East police officer is using links with a local supermarket to spread the word.

PC Phil Wymer, beat manager for Oxclose, Lampton, Ayton and Glebe at Washington, has been holding regular "bobby lobbies" for the past couple of months in a local Asda store.

The police surgeries were originally established to give customers using the supermarket the chance to get crime prevention advice and air concerns with their local community police officer.

Now, PC Wymer is hoping to use store facilities to encourage more people to consider policing as a career.

He said: "This is a great idea which will help raise the profile of police recruitment in our community. For potential PCs to have the opportunity to talk to a police officer before applying will really help bring the job to life."

Asda stores around the country will be using PC Wymer's "bobby lobby" initiative to promote widespread police recruitment.

Space will be available for posters to be put up and individual supermarkets will hold open evenings for interested members of the community to speak with their local officer about a job in the force.

Nearly 500 new police officer posts have been created in the North-East and North Yorkshire as part of a three-year scheme to boost bobby on the beat numbers.

Northumbria Police Federation chairman David Raine said: "We would always like more but this is perhaps the biggest number of (new) officers I have ever known.

"This is one time when the public and police service itself should notice the difference.