NEW ways to police Clacton must be found to combat criminals on benefits moving to the area, according to Essex’s top cop.

Crime in Essex fell between April and September this year, but Tendring experienced a 50 per cent rise in street robberies, a hike in burglaries and problems with weapons.

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh, speaking at a public meeting at Chelmsford’s City Hall, admitted the force needs to find a new model for policing the area, particularly in the summer.

He said: “There has been a change to the resident population in parts of Tendring.

“Some of the changes in benefit arrangements in deprived areas mean people are moving for cheaper accommodation.

“We are arresting more people in Tendring who previously lived elsewhere. We have to look at how we police the area.”

Clacton MP Douglas Carswell said the reasons for the problems was benefit migration and the high number of bedsits – so-called houses of multiple occupation – in the ward that are used by the probation service to house exoffenders after their release from prison.

A report bythe Centre for Social Justice in May this year revealed 54 per cent of working-age people in Clacton’s Pier ward were claiming benefits.

Essex Police threw resources into Clacton after more than 30 knifepoint robberies in April, May and June this year. Officers made 16 arrests and the number of incidents fell.

Mr Kavanagh said: “District Commander Cat Barrie has been outstanding. We moved in the operational support group and we had positive results, but we need to prepare for next summer with a new flexible model.”

Nick Alston, Essex’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said the police’s system of allocating resources has been inflexible.

He said: “There may need to be a different focus in Tendring.

“We need to have a mechanism where we can put more police in.

“We could deal with the summer effect when we had a lot of resources, but we don’t any more.

“However, I am encouraged to hear about plans for a more flexible approach.”

Mr Kavanagh is considering broadening the use of Operation Insight, which involves using intelligence data to try to predict where criminals will be and when.

He said: “With greater austerity we need to use inteligence to get officers in the right place at the right time, with the right approach. Insight could have a big impact.

“When we see levels of crimes in coastal areas we used to have flexibility to move others in. Now we don’t.

“Government cuts mean we need to look at more efficient ways to use resources.”