A SQUAD of budding police officers descended on Morecambe this week as a pioneering new training venture kicked off.

Fifteen recruits have set up camp at the Thornton Road police station - one of five pilot centres nationally to start ground-breaking 'on the job' training.

'Project Morecambe' is part of a Home Office overhaul of how police probationers are trained.

Usually recruits learn in classrooms through role playing with colleagues, but this project puts them closer to frontline policing.

Chief Superintendent Wendy Walker, Northern Divisional Commander, says: "We have 15 new recruits who will be going out and about, providing extra visibility on the ground.

"They will go out with local officers and really learn the craft of being a beat bobby rather than just going out in blues and twos. It is ground-breaking and we are really proud of it."

Stuart Villers, head of training, says that Lancashire police are 'leading the way'.

"The project is not about chucking these recruits in at the deep end and hoping for the best. It is about giving them the chance to train in real life situations, dealing with real people and in the real world.

"Project Morecambe is about equipping officers for frontline policing and the reality of policing. It has the potential for changing the way the police service trains its recruits."

One of the probationers will be based in Carnforth, working with town centre officer Nathan Jones.

Carnforth community beat manager Dal Dawkins says: "I think he will be made extremely welcome by the community, who are very supportive of the police. At the end of the day it is an extra police resource in their area."

After training, nine of the 15 students will join stations in Northern Division, which includes Morecambe, Lancaster, Carnforth and Heysham.

After two days in training, PC Paul Jones, 29, says: "It was a bit mind-blowing to start with because there was a lot of information. But it is really good and I can't wait to go into the community."

"I am really enjoying it," says 25-year-old Laura Woodman, one of the four female recruits. "I am glad I was chosen for Project Morecambe because it is new and challenging for both the organisers and students."