A £4 million countywide shake-up of rural policing will make for better policing all round, Frinton and Walton residents have been assured.

Supt Mick Hicks, head of Tendring police, speaking at one of a series of public meetings into the changes, pointed out to residents they lived in one of the safest parts of the county.

Walton has been chosen as one of four section stations in the Tendring division which will also eventually act as a base for four community officers responsible for surrounding villages.

There will be 12 constables working in shifts of three plus a sergeant and led by an inspector.

But it was stressed there was no intention to swallow-up the community bobbies in the overall team so that the villages were left without an identifiable policeman.

If anything the team would provide extra resources on which they could draw, the meeting was told.

Eventually it is planned to either replace or update the Walton station in Martello Road.

But, depending on the decision to close the traffic unit at Thorpe it might be that some of the officers would be based there in the meantime.

Emergency cover would be provided over the whole 24-hour period.

Supt Hicks admitted: "Our system of answering telephone calls is not good and we are working hard to do something about it."

And he stressed the need to phone 999 in an emergency which would be answered by the nearest car.

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