A NEW inspector has vowed to be tough on offenders and work closely with members of the public after taking charge in Burnley.

After replacing Jes Holland as the town’s geographic inspector, Karen Edwards said she was “looking forward” to tackling crime in the area.

The mum-of-two said she would like to help communities feel “happy, secure and confident” in the support provided by police.

But she also pledged to help maintain the ‘feel good factor’ created by Burnley FC’s elevation to the Premier League.

Later this month will see the first in a series of Community Action Days, which is the first of its kind and has been set up by Insp Edwards.

As part of the operations, which will be held every three weeks, officers will be acting on concerns raised by members of the public.

In addition, under Insp Edwards supervision, there will be mini operations held each week, aimed at tackling different aspects of crime.

Insp Edwards said: “I am delighted to be taking charge of policing across Burnley and I am looking forward to working with colleagues and with groups and individuals in the community to tackle crime and disorder concerns.

“Crime is low across Burnley and I’m keen to keep it that way. Some fantastic work has been done in the borough, especially recently with operations such as Nimrod, and it is my aim to work with partners and the local community to build on this and make Burnley even safer. It is my very firm intention to listen to and act upon community concerns and to ensure that criminals feel the heat. Burnley is experiencing a boom at the moment with the recent premiership success and I want that feel good factor to remain.

“I want communities to feel happy, secure and confident in the support provided by police in Burnley.”

Insp Edwards was born in Preston but spent most of her early life living in Hong Kong and India.

Prior to joining the police she spent 18 months working in the Middle East.

Originally a medical research biochemist in a Welsh Hospital, Insp Edwards started her policing career in 1995 on foot patrol in Skelmersdale.

Roles in Chorley and Clayton Brook followed before she joined Pennine Division on promotion to Sergeant at Colne in 2000.

She moved to Nelson as the area’s neighbourhood policing sergeant before she joined the ethnic minority recruitment team at Hutton in 2004.

She was promoted in 2007 and became the inspector in charge of Pennine’s offender manage-ment unit until her recent move to Burnley.