MORE local police will be seen on the streets of our towns and villages, Gwent's new Police and Crime Commissioner has said.

Commissioner Ian Johnston, who served as a Gwent police officer for 35 years, said he would resume recruiting trainees and increase the number of volunteer special constables.

He said: "I am very conscious that we always need new blood and we will start recruiting soon.

"I am also keen to increase the number of Specials we have in Gwent to serve in our rural areas.

"I have also been made aware that victims of crime and those involved with incidents never seem to get any updates on the cases. This has got to change.

"We've obviously got a lot of work to do. Currently the balance is all wrong in favour of administrative tick boxes. The burden of bureaucracy is on top of my agenda"

The commissioner outlined his plans to Trellech United Community Council along with his deputy Paul Harris.

Mr Harris explained further: "Specials already play an important role within the Gwent force. What we would like to see is people volunteering for the role within their own communities.

"While a Special would not replace the much loved village bobby, working in the community, it would be a big help to the regular force over the deployment of officers.

"Officers used to regularly go out on patrol, but with the size of the force they no longer have the time to devote to chasing calls.

"Specials would be of great benefit to us, the community they serve, as they will have local knowledge.

"I've been informed that somebody from rural Monmouthshire would not have to go and work as a Special in Blaenau Gwent or Caerphilly as they would work in their own patch.

"This fear of being assigned an area they don't know has put many people off applying to be a Special Constable in the past.

"This will not happen. We want to make the most of people's local knowledge."