EFFORTS to put community policing at the heart of Sedgefield, in County Durham, have been hailed as a success by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens.

Sir John, in Sedgefield yesterday to launch the borough's Community Care Force Centre, said the scheme represented a beacon of community support for crime-fighting.

"Four or five years ago I sat down with other chief constables and discussed what we wanted in terms of support from a community," he said.

"Well I can tell you that our vision is here."

The Community Force, a much-copied council scheme set up in 1993, works with police to mount uniformed patrols to reduce vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

A host of local agencies are involved in the project, which also co-operates with Durham Police.

The new control room operates around the clock, providing an emergency link for residents. It is also a base for other services, including community rangers working in every school in the borough and people monitoring the area's 45 closed-circuit television cameras.

Sedgefield's Neighbourhood Watch scheme is coordinated from the centre, and a Carelink system of electronic alarms for the elderly and vulnerable.

The commissioner was clearly impressed with what he saw, and said: "When I was Her Majesty's Inspector of Police a few years ago, I toured the length and breadth of Britain and I can tell you that nobody else in this country - and probably the world - has anything which can compare. You are at the leading edge in caring about people and looking after their quality of life."

Sir John signalled the scheme would increasingly become a model for others, with a host of visits lined up for police and community officers from the Metropolitan Police