Community support officers handle routine tasks and low-level crime

Speaking in a webcast, Chief Constable Stephen Otter said an approved budget for the year ahead would maintain its total of 3,500 officers.

The planned 356 police community support officers will be brought in.

The chief constable said: "We are working very hard to improve the visibility and accessibility of our staff on the front line."

Officer numbers are at their highest in the force's history.

Mr Otter said: "My job is to make sure they are as accessible as possible, both in the work they are doing on serious crime - like murders - right down to dealing with day-to-day problems in communities."

He also pledged to remove organisational barriers and cut bureaucracy to improve the service.

Under recent Home Office cuts, plans were axed for another 179 community support officer posts in the South West.

Support officers help police officers handle routine tasks and low-level crime and can also issue fixed on-the-spot fines.