POLICE should spend more time in the communities they serve, according to the latest Cumbria Police public consultation document.

This was one of the themes arising from the annual public consultation survey which was carried out from September to November last year.

The survey found that the need for community policing was high on the wish list of residents, along with related themes such as increased foot patrols in town centres and rural areas, increased visibility of police officers and more involvement with the local community and, in particular, young people.

Only 34 per cent of respondents believed that there was a police officer responsible for their local area, while 23 per cent knew the name of the officer and only 21 per cent had seen an officer on foot in the last week.

Another issue arising from the survey was that people's fear of crime far outweighed their actual experience of it, as 37.9 per cent of the sample was worried about having their home broken into while only 3.1 per cent had actually experienced the crime.

Most people believed that they were most at risk of being the victim of a drug related crime but believed that violent crime and sexual offences should be a higher priority for the police.

On a positive note, in a snapshot of how Cumbria's experiences of crime relate to the rest of the country, a comparison with the British Crime Survey found that while 65 per cent of respondents nationwide felt that crime in the country as a whole had risen over the previous two years, only 46.6 per cent of those surveyed in Cumbria felt the same.

At a meeting of Cumbria Police Authority policing plan and best value committee, members voted to accept the public consultation survey as part of the annual policing plan for 2005/6.

l At the meeting of the Cumbria Police Authority South Lakeland community liaison forum at Arnside Educational Institute, better feedback was requested from police officers after they take action to resolve problems, .

The meeting heard comments from residents that they often did not know if or how a problem had been dealt with.

The authority will now seek to improve this communication.