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When I was quite young my dad chased me from Hilton Road the whole length of King Street (covered in shaving soap, my dad that is) for what he considered to be an untruth.

A clip around the ear perhaps, my dad’s strength was in his disapproving face! region to mount a concerted lobbying effort to demand better funding from their mostly Tory masters in Westminster.

In Torquay, we have seen a collapse in the number of community support officers from 25 to five.

These officers had become the grass roots of the service, understanding communities and being able to engage with a very positive effect with those on the edge of the criminal justice system.

Now, those that remain are effectively fire-brigading and have only a shadow of their former understanding of the communities in Torquay.

With a 12% rise in knife crime, according to government figures, the case for increasing community support officer numbers is irresistible.

Previously, we have received promises from the chief constable and the commissioner that numbers would be boosted in the next few months.

It is not clear if we can go back to the community policing levels that we need in Torbay, but unless those in power locally demand more funding from Westminster the levels of crime and anti-social behaviour is only likely to go up.