THE Have Your Say survey by the police and town council showed that 99 per cent of people in the area feel safe.

Kingsbridge Police officers, along with members of Kingsbridge Town Council and Plymouth University students, were on the streets of Kingsbridge and Salcombe last Wednesday, talking to members of the public.

The results showed that 99 per cent of people feel ‘safe’ - 76 per cent - or ‘fairly safe’ - 23 per cent in this area with only three out of 274 respondents reporting feeling unsafe.

58 people reported no community issues of concern at all, but the largest areas of concern were parking - 70 people, wanting more police on patrol - 64, street lighting - 40, highway maintenance - 32, and speeding - 31.

Sgt Dave Green, Kingsbridge Police, said: ‘It is very important that police and partners work closely together to understand the concerns of people in our communities. To this end the surveys conducted in Kingsbridge, Salcombe and surrounding areas on Monday were a success.

‘From a police perspective I understand people’s wish to see more officers on patrol, and for work to tackle the dangers on our roads, particularly from speeding. I am heartened that the overwhelming majority feel safe in this area, but we must never become complacent.

‘This feedback will therefore help to focus our activities over the coming year, whilst we continue to respond to calls for help, investigate crime, and safeguard the vulnerable in society.’

Broadly speaking the results are similar to last couple of years we have been running this survey. The main changes are an increase in people complaining about parking, highway maintenance and broken pavements.

Speeding traffic is a bigger concern than last year, as is general road safety and congestion, but antisocial behaviour, drunkenness and noise is unchanged.

Burglary or theft were mentioned as concerns by 14 people, which given the size of the survey, indicates a relatively low fear of crime, and surprisingly only one person voiced concerns about sex offending and child protection, in spite of widespread coverage of this issue in national press.

PC Dave Tungate, PC Ryan Hayhurst, PC Jo Pengilly, town clerk Martin Johnson, Cllrs Barry Fishman, Robin Griffin and Graham Price and Plymouth University students studying for a Public Services Degree, were on Fore Street, Tesco and Morrisons in Kingsbridge and on Fore Street in Salcombe.

‘Historically, the UK police, along with Canadian and Australia police, are the only forces to “police by consent”, explained Sgt Dave Green at the briefing before the survey, ‘the model relies on people supporting us.’