GOVERNMENT permission for police to recruit and set up a network of 72 new community support workers in Lancashire could prove to be a turning point in the way the service operates - and public perceptions of it.

At present we expect uniformed officers to turn up at our homes to deal with a multitude of problems and situations, and we get angry if they don't react fast.

At the same time we expect them to be visible on the streets dealing with all manner of matters from armed robberies to dropping litter.

Not surprisingly as the purse strings have been pulled ever tighter, police have found this 'please everybody' role more and more difficult - if not impossible - to carry out.

The Community Support Officers must seem like the cavalry coming over the hill to their rescue.

They will wear easily-recognisable uniforms and patrol the streets issuing penalty notices for anti-social behaviour including cycling on footpaths and pavements, dog fouling, litter and consuming alcohol in public places.

In the Pennine Division covering Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, they will also have the power to arrest and detain offenders and be at their full strength of 12 in the New Year.

The benefits of the scheme are obvious.

Police will be freed up to focus on more serious crime issues and be able to repair some of the damage that has been done as they tried desperately to prioritise and be all things to all people.

Too often this philosophy has just not worked because, when someone rings the police for help, it's human nature that they consider their own problem to be more important than anything else.

The new scheme should take much of the burden from the shoulders of the traditional police force.

But to work, it will also need our support and, perhaps initially, our understanding as the new team finds its feet and its role.