POLICE officers in Wiltshire are to be given more time to spend patrolling the county's streets.

The force is one of 10 across the country to get a share of an extra £13m in Government funding to employ more civilian staff to do station-based jobs.

Launching the project this week Home Secretary David Blunkett said: "We have more police officers than ever before but too often officers find themselves trapped in the station, dealing with paperwork and other duties that can, and should, be carried out by other staff."

The Wiltshire Police Authority has stated, in a leaflet sent out to householders, it will increase the number of civilian staff it employs by 93, to 845 in the next tax year.

Of those 93 extra staff, 29 are police community support officers, who carry out routine patrols to supply a greater police visibility.

Their role is to prevent rather than tackle crime and provide people with reassurance, particularly in areas where there have been problems with crime and anti-social behaviour.

Figures show overall crime has gone down by 3.5 per cent over the last year and the county has the second lowest crime rate in the country.

The time regular police officers can spend out in the community has already increased, going up to 61 per cent last year in comparison to 54 per cent in 2002/2003.

Civilian staff now handle some jobs traditionally done by officers, such as processing prisoners.

The force will be recruiting additional staff to handle extra work created by the creation of the new Independent Police Complaints Commission in April.

More staff will also be needed to improve the way calls from the public are handled.

Other initiatives to be adopted this year include the new national AIRWAVE communications system and an enhanced call handling and IT system to improve contact with the public.

An e-policing project will enable officers to use technology to reduce paperwork and allow them to input and receive data while on patrol.

A Crime Bureau is to be gradually introduced over the course of the year, allowing the public direct access to civilian police staff who will be able to provide current information on any crime.

The force is looking to recruit more special constables. Anyone interested should call (01380) 734066.