A NEW team of volunteer police cadets have joined North Yorkshire Police.

An official ceremony was held on Wednesday to welcome the 11 volunteers who will soon be set to work in and around the York area, supporting local police and community initiatives.

North Yorkshire Police now has almost 60 police cadets, run by volunteer staff and consisting of serving police officers, special constables and police support volunteers.

Chief Constable Lisa Winward said: "I am delighted to welcome eleven new police cadets to the North Yorkshire Police family.

"Having successfully completed their introductory training, they are about to embark upon an exciting journey and this is something they should be immensely proud of. Our young cadets act as ambassadors for North Yorkshire Police and provide invaluable support to our police officers, special constables and other police staff volunteers. I am thrilled to see our cadet programme going from strength to strength, providing young people with a unique opportunity to see policing first-hand and at the same time help their local community."

Neil Lancey, citizens in policing liaison officer, said: "The dedication they have shown in their first twelve weeks as cadets has been excellent and I have no doubt they will go on to do great things. I would also like to thank our older cadets for their continuous fantastic attitude and to the volunteer cadet leaders for all their hard work."