There is a new face striding the streets of Coniston as the village got its very own community bobby this week.

As part of the Cumbria Police initiative to have 70 new officers each devoted to a single patch in the county, PC Jo Dyson took charge of looking out for the village.

"I'm really excited about it," she said. "I'm going to be able to get to know people and they will get to know me and, I hope, trust me."

An officer for 12 years, PC Dyson has served at Milnthorpe and in the Kent Valley before becoming a community officer for the Levens area.

Her new posting will see her travelling from her Newby Bridge home to spend 40 hours a week on the Coniston beat, working out of the Community Development Centre attached to the primary school.

When on duty, she said she would be able to improve response times to incidents in the area.

The aim is also to increase the amount of pro-active policing, working with local people to solve problems, rather than just responding to call-outs.

"I'm going to be getting out amongst the community and meeting community groups to tackle local problems," said PC Dyson. "Things like nuisance, disorder and anti-social behaviour type problems."

However, there are no particular trouble spots on the hit list yet - PC Dyson said she would be getting to know her patch first.

The area inspector for the central Lakes, Tudor Griffiths, said PC Dyson's appointment offered an opportunity to tackle the issues that affected people's quality of life.

"We are fortunate enough to live in an area which is fairly low crime and the likelihood of personal attack is low. However, with the influx of tourists, they bring their own problems... disorder on the campsites and things like raves at Hodge Close Quarry. Then the more routine issues like a bit of anti-social behaviour, youth disorder. Rural areas don't escape crime. Putting a face into the community gives people that confidence they have got someone to speak to about it."

l PC Dyson can be contacted through Kendal Police on 01539-722611 or e-mailed at: joanne.dyson@cumbria.police.uk