POLICE chiefs in York are considering plans to make sure areas have their own designated beat bobbies.

Inspector Richard Crinnion, the neighbourhood policing inspector for York centre, said a number of proposals had been put forward to the police's area management team.

He said: "The idea is to try and get back to having more specific officers for areas."

He said they were also looking at ways to make sure there was enough supervision for increasing numbers of Community Support Officers.

He said the plan was to make sure there were dedicated bobbies for different parts of the city who knew the area and could attend meetings of local community groups.

He added: "We want to make sure those bobbies won't be dashing around the city. They will be allocated specifically to one area."

A drastic shake-up at the beginning of April saw the force's central area, which covers York and Selby, split so that 60 per cent of officers were working in Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs), and 40 per cent in response teams.

It was heralded as a new era for policing, with areas getting their own teams of dedicated beat bobbies.

But The Press told in July how some officers said their response department was "beyond breaking point and failing" since the introduction of neighbourhood policing.

The number of "immediate response" incidents doubled, leading to officers being late 1,228 times for emergencies in two months.

A new computer system in the force control room was blamed for many of the problems.

But policing in some areas has come under fire since April.

In Clifton, residents were left angered after about 90 cars were damaged in one night last week when vandals went on the rampage.

In a letter to residents, David Nicholson, chairman of the Joint Committee of Clifton Residents' Associations, said the incident was evidence of the "abject failure of so-called community policing' in York".

He added: "Clearly the current level of police coverage in Clifton is completely inadequate."

He has called on Chief Constable Della Cannings to meet residents to consult on "how we can, together, get policing back on track, not just in Clifton, but in every ward of the city".