POLICE in York could work more closely with the city centre rangers from next year, in an effort to improve awareness of issues and public concerns in the city.

Inspector Andy Godfrey, neighbourhood policing officer for York city and south, said the force is already working with a number of partner agencies in the city, and he hoped 2017 would see an exploration of how the rangers and police could help each other.

He said the nature of the rangers’ work meant they would be a useful asset for intelligence gathering without using additional police resources.

The rangers, introduced by September, are hired by businesses involved in the York BID to help prevent antisocial behaviour, to be a friendly and welcoming face for visitors, and to help to spot areas that might need cleaning up.

Insp Godfrey said: “I think we can work together on quite a few things with the rangers.

"They are on the streets on a daily basis so if they recognise any issues they can come to us and say there’s something boiling up here and once we know we can look at addressing that in the most appropriate way.

“We have our strategies and priorities and work towards them but we do listen to the public locally in York to find out what the issues are that are affecting them and change up our responses to the greatly in whatever area of York it is, identifying the vulnerable, work with partner agencies and signpost people to where they can get the best help.”

Next year, Insp Godfrey said he wanted more members of the public to contact the force with their concerns or issues they want to see dealt with.

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He said public awareness that officers and other partners were available to be approached in the street would help.

He said: “We’re obviously always happy to listen whether people are passing on intelligence or concerns because what the public feedback to us helps us know where we need to be and who we need to help.”

Extra police resources will be in place for New Year's Eve tomorrow, including dispersal orders for antisocial drinkers and those causing trouble on the streets.

Elsewhere, Insp Godfrey also said the force had seen a number of recent successes in the run up to Christmas.

He said: “Op Yuletide has been a mixture of high visibility policing because of the St Nicholas Fair which brings increased numbers to York who we want to make sure people can see police are present and reassurance is there.

"There’s also a facility to put out plain clothed officers as well and we have done that recently.

“We managed to recover 10 mobile phones from a group of people who had changes of clothes with them. Having extra staff on has enabled that proactive action.

"They are out right into the festive period, with extra PCs every day within the city.”