ONE of the less savoury tactics of political campaigning by some candidates is to make a bogus claim and ask your opponents to dispute it.

Dafydd Williams is guilty of such scare tactics when he claims in The Press of April 5 that police patrols in the Westfield are being cut. This is simply a distortion of the position.

We continue to have two police constables and five PCSOs in the local neighbourhood policing team. They are now conveniently headquartered at Acomb police station, together with their colleagues who respond directly to crime reports. Residents can now report concerns at the police station desk.

Working in partnership with the police, and using council funding to provide extra CCTV surveillance, security railings and other crime prevention measures, we will sustain the trend which has seen local crime rates drop by 42 per cent over the past seven years.

Coun Steve Galloway, Stirrup Close, Foxwood.