KENDAL'S local policing team could benefit from a new batch of Police Community Safety Officers after Cumbria Police Authority agreed to bid for 30 new officers.

The move came after the Government announced an increase in the number of PCSOs to be created with funding from the Neighbourhood Policing Fund.

Cumbria police will bid for 30 new PCSOs with 100 per cent funding from the Government up until 2008, and beyond that it is believed the Government funding will still be on-going.

Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary Michael Baxter said it was the right time to recruit more PCSOs: "This does mark a shift in how we are approaching local policing teams.

"The police federation would prefer to have more police officers because of their flexibility of deployment but experience tells us that our PCSOs properly selected do an awful lot of good work and we should not ignore this chance to improve the service."

The decision is part of an overall Government target to recruit 20,000 PCSOs and if the bid is successful they must be appointed before March 31 next year.

Mr Baxter said the public would not be confused by the increasing number of different officers being deployed: "The general view of the public is that they want to see some guardship of public spaces and aren't concerned who that is as long as it's done well. In some places they have problems but it's the same with police officers because in some places they are not effective."

Cumbria Constabulary chose to bid for 30 new PCSOs because that is the number they could train properly. If they are successful they will deployed within the local policing teams posted to each of the six main areas of population which includes Kendal.