A SHADOW home office minister visited Burnley to discuss concerns over cuts to frontline policing.

Shadow police and justice minister David Hanson MP met with Labour’s prodspective parliamentary candidate Julie Cooper at Burnley’s main police station in Parker Lane, before going out to speak to residents in the Bank Hall area of the town about their concerns around crime and policing.

Coun Cooper said: “I was pleased to bring David to Burnley, as a policing specialist in the Home Office.

“People are telling me over and over that they are not seeing enough police on the streets, that PCSOs are under threat, and that they are generally worried. When I’m out on the doorstep, over and over people tell me about a lack of uniformed police officers and fear of crime. The policing budget has been heavily cut, and it is starting to impact.

“The Police and Crime Commissioner is under a great deal of pressure to maintain services with a decreasing budget, and this is clearly not the right priority for cuts.

“Labour introduced PCSOs to put more uniformed police on the streets, and now we’re seeing a reduction in them, it’s a worrying trend.

“I think it’s really important that a future Labour policing minister is aware of what people in Burnley want to see, and David has been left in doubt about what is required.”

Mr Hanson said: “Five hundred and thirty five police officers and 75 PCSOs have gone from Lancashire since 2010. This is a shocking number and the people I have met with Julie Cooper are worried about it.

“The police service is doing its best, but as police numbers fall, crime is once again on the rise in Lancashire.”