PEOPLE living in Bishop Auckland are to be given the chance to contact their local police officer directly, under a new scheme being pioneered in the town.

The Dial-A-Bobby scheme will allow local people to contact their beat officer through a personalised messaging service.

The pilot project is one of a series of measures senior officers are examining as they build on initiatives designed to improve community policing across the force.

The Dial-A-Bobby scheme involves one inspector, 13 beat police officers and three police community support officers, and is part of Durham Constabulary's StreetSafe Campaign.

It came about as police searched for ways to improve neighbourhood policing, particularly in areas such as Weardale and Teesdale.

Superintendent Jane Spraggon, the force's business manager, said: "Much good work is already going on within our communities but we are constantly looking for ways to improve.

"We have been getting right down to street level and listening to what both individuals and their ward leaders say."

The main points that came out of the consultation were that people wanted to see more police on the streets and the opportunity to speak with their local bobby, she said.

Farmwatch members in Weardale and Darlington have been provided with direct telephone numbers for urgently contacting police and the pilot scheme in Bishop Auckland is an extension of that.

Supt Spraggon said: "The communities have a key role to play in shaping the services we provide and for our part we will be responsive to their needs.

"There is a wrongly-held view that small, isolated neighbourhoods are not touched by crime.

"When they are it is more keenly felt, and can have an even greater impact on the quality of people's lives."

Councillor Barbara Laurie, who represents the Cockton Hill ward of Bishop Auckland, said: "This sounds like an excellent idea.

"A lot of people are very dissatisfied with the system as it is, because it seems so far away when you're ringing.

"It sounds like it will be an excellent step to restoring local people's access to their policeman.

"It sounds like it will be a lot more speedy - one grumble that people have is it takes so long to contact police."