A TOP cop promised Tiptree will not be ignored under police restructuring plans.

Chief Insp Paul Wells, the new district commander for Colchester, told Tiptree Parish Council local bobbies were at the core of the new system.

Essex Police needs to save more than £41million in three years.

Tiptree will no longer have a dedicated sergeant. Mr Wells said: “I’d love to say you could have ten officers. With financial restraints headquarters face, they have come up with a plan where neighbourhood police form the backbone. Their role is paramount.”

He said a new “borderless” system, where officers can be sent to an incident in any part of the county, instead of along division lines, could also benefit Tiptree because of its closeness to the Chelmsford area.

Mr Wells said response to a spate of break-ins in Tiptree, in which burglars targeted key safes to get into homes, was an example of the new system working.

The neighbourhood team was supported by other areas to patrol the area in nights following the break-ins.

Councillor Ron Ratcliffe asked: “Are they moving forward to a way in which certain areas in Essex, which are troublesome, are being policed to the detriment of those, such as ours, which get sporadic outbreaks of burglaries?”