THEY are not police officers - but they are being used increasingly across York to tackle antisocial behaviour and low-level crime.

They are community rangers, who are paid for with council taxpayers' cash to patrol nine separate neighbourhoods, from Woodthorpe to Wigginton.

Today, City of York Council hailed the rangers' achievements in keeping communities safe and providing a reassuring presence for residents - and urged people to provide the rangers with more information by using a freephone service.

Zoe Burns, the council's head of neighbourhood management, said: "This is a great example of a scheme which has been requested by residents and to which residents can add value by giving local information."

She said the rangers, funded by ward committees at the suggestion of residents, now operated in nine areas - Acomb, Dringhouses and Woodthorpe, Derwent, Heworth Without and Osbaldwick, Fishergate, Haxby and Wigginton, Holgate, Hull Road, Huntington and New Earswick, and Westfield.

A council spokeswoman said the number of wards using the service had risen, but no more could make use of the service until the next financial year. She said the rangers, currently provided by Group Response, carried out two 30-minute patrols between 5pm and midnight in each ward.

The cost to each ward was £12 per evening, which covered both the patrols and other costs such as the provision of a freephone number.

"Marked patrol vehicles are fitted with an infra-red CCTV camera so that incidents can be recorded and the footage passed to the police or the council for use as evidence," she said.

She said the rangers, now in their second year of running, could be phoned on 0800 783 7537.

Mal Taylor, secretary of the North Yorkshire branch of the Police Federation, today welcomed the use of community rangers to complement the work of police officers and community support officers.

"They are an additional uniformed presence on the streets," he said. "They provide extra eyes and ears in helping to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour."

He said their presence could be especially useful with the need to be vigilant in the face of the threat of terrorism.