THIS week saw the launch of a new community policing scheme in Wiltshire.

It is a sort of half-way house between traditional officers and part-time specials.

These new officers will be full-time and receive a salary of about £15,000, which is substantially less than a rookie copper but there is no suggestion yet anyway that new scheme is a cut price way of getting bobbies on the beat.

The community officers will be trained but less intensively than ordinary police and they will not have to work the night shift.

Of course, any job where you are likely to be telling people not to do something they want could be potentially dangerous but these officers will not be sent to the front line.

They are far more likely to come across young lads having a can of lager in the bushes than a bank robber, but for many people the job they do will be hugely important.

Wiltshire is one of the safest counties in the country in which to live but people in every town and village are concerned about vandalism, petty theft and the disturbance caused by gangs of youngsters congregating.

In the general order of things these are not big crimes and, in the past, officers have possibly not had as much time as people would have liked to have the sort of presence that deters this type of behaviour.

But now the community officers, complete with distinctive uniforms, will be out and about where they are most needed, giving vital support to the rest of the force.

The only problem that is likely to arise for the four community officers patrolling in Devizes and Chippenham is that everyone is going to want them to be in the same place at the same time.

What is the betting before the month is out that every village and town in the area will be calling for the community team to visit their patch?

But I am sure the Chief Constable will not be complaining too much about their popularity.