EXTRA police officers are to be deployed in villages in the Cheddar area to fight nuisance crime. More than 40 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) will be recruited by the district council to patrol the streets tackling antisocial behaviour, confisc

EXTRA police officers are to be deployed in villages in the Cheddar area to fight nuisance crime.More than 40 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) will be recruited by the district council to patrol the streets tackling antisocial behaviour, confiscating alcohol and removing abandoned vehicles in places such as Cheddar, Axbridge and Wedmore.Sedgemoor District Council acknowledged the importance of the role PCSOs play at a meeting of its executive committee and decided to pay to recruit around an extra 44 PCSOs by 2007/08.PCSOs can also tackle problems of under-age drinking and take on the roles of traffic wardens. There are currently 11 PCSOs in the district.Sedgemoor's community safety officer Lucy Willmott said: "PCSOs work as a member of police staff working within the local community providing public reassurance. "They are key to the Neighbourhood Policing programme, set up across Avon and Somerset, which aims to improve the visibility of police and improves community safety services."Five Neighbourhood Policing teams will be created in the district each having a sergeant, three or four police constables, around eight PCSOs and one admin staff member to bring back the feeling of the 'local bobby on the beat'.The officers will be full-time workers, fully paid and are currently being recruited through the Avon & Somerset Constabulary website. Lucy Willmott will work with other agencies, such as the police, within the district now the plan has been agreed and the Council will produce an updated report next year.