Residents of Rodbourne Cheney have called on senior police officers to increase the number of bobbies patrolling their area.

Rodbourne Cheney Residents' Association contacted North Swindon MP Michael Wills when they learned that the number of community police officers covering the northern sector had almost halved since May last year.

And he responded by calling a meeting with Community Beat Team manager Inspector Bob Markham and the residents' association, held last Friday.

Pat Harden, secretary of the residents' association said: "Here in Rodbourne Cheney, we have no community police officers at all. I realise that we are covered by other branches such as traffic, CID and specific response teams, but we do need to see bobbies."

"We need more police officers on the beat, because a community officer knows everyone in his area and people trust him. They are more willing to confide in him if they have seen something unusual.

"I have always felt that the bobby on the beat is one of the most effective deterrents against crime."

Although nothing was resolved at the meeting, Pat said: "It was a full and frank exchange of views. I think we got our message across."

Before the meeting, MP Michael Wills said that the issue was one of how police organised themselves rather than funding, because Wiltshire Police had recently been granted £800,000 to compensate for the expense of the Porton Down Inquiry.