THE Government has been urged by local MP Rachel Gilmour to back community policing as newly-released figures showed Avon and Somerset Constabulary had lost 60 police community support officers (PCSOs) in just 12 months.

Home Office statistics comparing September, 2024, with the same month a year earlier showed across the country there were 235 fewer full-time equivalent PCSOs.

The figure for the Avon and Somerset force represented a reduction of 19.1 per cent in the total number of its PCSOs.

Across the Westcountry, 77 PCSOs were slashed in the 12 months, a fall of 10.3 per cent.

The new statistics were released less than two months since the Government announced its new Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which included a pledge to recruit more PCSOs.

Ms Gilmour represents the Tiverton and Minehead constituency, which takes in West Somerset and much of Exmoor, as well as parts of the Culm Valley, Blackdown Hills, and a number of parishes bordering Wellington.

She said: “The Conservatives decimated neighbourhood policing.

“They ruthlessly cut community support officers who play a vital role on the frontlines, keeping our communities safe.

“The new Government has promised to fix this, but these figures will sow seeds of doubt for people worrying about crime and anti-social behaviour in Tiverton and Minehead.

“Liberal Democrats will hold this Government to account to ensure they implement the proper neighbourhood policing they have promised.

“That means more bobbies on the beat, doing what works to stop and solve crime in our communities.”

Ms Gilmour said nationally, more than 4,500 PCSOs had been taken off the streets since 2015, with 150 of the officers being lost in the six months since March, 2024.

She said Liberal Democrats were calling for a return to ‘proper community policing’, where officers were visible, trusted, and focused on their local neighbourhoods.