THERE was some bitter-sweet news for Camelford Town Council as they received a visit from Camelford Police’s neighbourhood beat manager recently.

PC Mike Ives, Camelford’s neighbourhood beat manager, attended the most recent meeting of full council on the evening of Thursday, September 5 with some bitter-sweet news for councillors and members of the public present. But with a lack of police presence in the area, the news seemed more disheartening than promising.

PC Ives reported that Camelford has now lost one of its PCSOs, Clare Barnes, who has gone to Exeter permanently, and PCSO Mike Dodd is now out of Camelford on a job for the time being. “So it’s just myself and Jowan (PCSO Jowan Annear) for the next couple of months,” he said. “We just don’t have the numbers so we have to be realistic about what we prioritise. We can’t afford to go out and provide a platinum service and go out to every single thing.”

And that wasn’t the only blow to the town, as PC Ives announced that he will be leaving Camelford in October.

However, with that came some more positive news, as he also reported that the neighbourhood beat manager role is being ‘made permanent’ for the area and is to be advertised before he leaves in October. He also said that crime in the area is down.

“All PCSOs aren’t allocated to one area,” he continued. “We are looking at longer-term issues now. However, there are still the response colleagues who attend the 999 calls.”

In light of the news, Cornwall Councillor for Camelford, Rob Rotchell, was keen to address it. He said: “We’ve been down this road so many times. I think we should formally request a meeting with the inspector.”