Police face up to residents' concerns

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 7th Jan 2005

Epping's Liberal Democrat county councillor Janet Whitehouse brought police representatives and residents together to thrash out local concerns about police performance.

Residents and councillors tackled the Chairman and Chief Executive of Essex police Authority about phone calls to police stations not being answered, slow responses to incidents and other concerns. "It was a useful meeting but the key test will be how the police responds to these concerns," said Janet. "We will continue to press for improvements."

The police divisional commander recently revealed to councillors that one in ten police constable posts in the area are vacant- mainly due to the shortage of housing in the Epping Forest area at prices police constables can afford.

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to put an extra 10,000 police on the streets as part of their plans to tacked crime and the fear of crime.