WILTSHIRE police chief hopes every Wiltshire resident will help his force crack down on crime.

There are 2,000 members of staff employed by Wiltshire Police but Chief Constable Martin Richards hopes to boost this to 700,000 by involving all Wiltshire's residents, through schemes like Neighbourhood Watch.

He said: "My ambition is to nudge our numbers up from 2,000 as close to 700,000 as possible because it is only through the eyes and ears of everybody else that this will move our policing levels up and make a difference."

Last week, it was revealed Wiltshire remains the safest county in the country and speaking at a Wessex Association of Chambers of Commerce business breakfast at Cumberwell Park Golf Club, Bradford on Avon on Friday, Mr Richards said: "I think that is an impressive performance."

He said Police Community Support Officers would help to tackle fear of crime but said it was impossible to provide a police officer on every street corner.

Businesses were told they had the option to buy a PCSO if they wanted to protect their offices, in the same way a community could fund its own PCSO.