POLICE in Billingham have launched their own social networking page to keep residents informed.

Officers from Billingham neighbourhood policing team will be tweeting while on the beat.

The Twitter page will include updates on how issues are being tackled in the area, what neighbourhood police officers have done on duty and any information to prevent people from becoming victims of crime.

Inspector Andy Fox, of Cleveland Police, said: "Twitter was a fairly new concept for me, but when we looked at the numbers of people you can communicate with, we quickly realised that it would be an ideal tool to have.

"It's really easy to use, is free and gives us an extra communications channel on top of what we are already doing for the local community."

To follow the Billingham neighbourhood policing team on Twitter, go to twitter.com/billinghamnpt