THE newly appointed police and crime commissioner for Avon and Somerset recently visited Peasedown St John at the invitation of B&NES Councillors.

Clare Moody was invited to the village by the community’s councillors, Gavin Heathcote and Karen Walker, on Saturday, November 2.

Cllr Gavin Heathcote said: “We’re grateful to Clare for visiting our community last week. It was an opportunity for us to discuss various issues that residents have raised with us, such as rural crime, neighbourhood policing and poor 101 response times.”

Clare has been in post since May this year, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament, and during Gordon Brown’s tenure as Prime Minister she worked in the Number 10 Policy Unit. As police and crime commissioner her role is to oversee policing across the entire Avon and Somerset area.

Cllr Karen Walker added: “We’re always looking at proactive ways in which we can support the police in creating safer communities.

“Peasedown St John is the biggest village is the South of England, so we want to make sure that it gets its ‘fair share’ of both policing resources and the overall crime reduction and prevention budget.”