There are 26 officers starting work in Hampshire on Tuesday

The 26 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) will deal primarily with incidents of anti-social behaviour in place of a regular police officer.

They can give penalty notices for minor offences such as litter and disorder and can detain people for 30 minutes.

They may also aid officers by providing crime prevention advice to residents and by visiting crime victims.

All the recruits have completed a five-week training programme at the force's Training and Support Headquarters at Netley.

Each PCSO has been assigned a police constable who will act as a mentor during their first few weeks on duty.