Amesbury and area Police Community Support Officer Geoff Paffett.FOR the second month running, levels of crime and antisocial behaviour in Amesbury have fallen.

Speaking at a meeting of the town council last week, Inspector Tim Richards, of Amesbury police, told councillors this was largely due to the presence of the town's police community support officer, Geoff Paffett.

There were no reported incidents of antisocial behaviour on the recreation ground in November and cycling on the footpaths, blocking the roads and drinking in the no-alcohol zones were also dramatically reduced.

Insp Richards said: "A lot of this is down to the good work of the police community support officer. There are fewer incidents we are having to deal with."

However, 54 drivers were reported for not displaying a valid vehicle excise licence and there were 11 recorded incidents of criminal damage and 12 incidents of assault and public disorder.

"It is crucial to execute high-profile policing in an attempt to eliminate these incidents," said Insp Richards.

"This is what we did last month and I intend to keep that up as much as we can."

And with the arrival of a second police community support officer in Amesbury, PC Andy Renwick, police are expecting levels of crime and antisocial behaviour to drop even further.