MORE officers will be pounding the streets as Essex Police goes "back to basics".

At the Epping Forest launch of Neighbourhood Policing last Thursday, Chief Constable Roger Baker insisted that more staff will be at the front end to combat crime in the district.

Mr Baker said: "We're listening to the public and we're going back to basics, working closer with the community at large to identify problems which we will deal with."

Under the Government-led initiative a chief inspector will be based at each local police station, with the district split into nine neighbourhoods' each having a named inspector, sergeant and police community support officer in a bid to reduce crime and improve community links.

Neighbourhood policing officers will also be available to residents in each neighbourhood 24 hours a day via mobile phone.

Mr Baker said: "People want police on the ground; let's deal with the people who make life a misery for the rest of us."

Epping Inspector Neil Fox believes neighbourhood policing will mean more effective crime fighting.

He said: "With neighbourhood policing, we can work with the community to identify and tackle those quality of life issues that people face every day, such as illegal parking or anti-social behaviour."

Mr Fox said neighbourhood policing had already had a positive effect in Epping.

"Epping Town Council contacted me about pilferers swamping the Monday market, stealing purses from older residents. I assigned a community support officer to the market two weeks ago and there hasn't been one instance since."

He added: "It's all about impetus and when we hear about something we have to go out and tackle it."

Mr Baker said neighbourhood policing was not "rocket science" and believed it was a return to old-fashioned policing.

"We hear about people's right, but now it's about people's responsibilities," he said.