Spain role defended by British officers

TWO British police officers sent to Ma g aluf have defended their role in helping the Spanish deal with drunken holidaymakers.

A sergeant and a constable are working alongside officers from the Guardia Civil during a two-week trial.

The pair, from West Midlands Police, are spending a week in the resort in Majorca to be followed by seven days in San Antonio, Ibiza.

Both are hugely popular venues for young British revellers, and Magaluf hit the headlines earlier this summer when holidaymakers defied new rules aiming to crack down on drunkenness.

The trial, funded by the Foreign Office, sees the officers patrol alongside Spanish colleagues in tourist hotspots.

There has been criticism that the British officers are not effective on the grounds as they do not have powers of arrest.

However Pc Martina Anderson said: “I think there are valid points for us having a presence here.

“Whilst the vast majority (of holidaymakers) do go home having a good time, an awful lot of them do go home being victims of crimes so I think there is some validity to having a presence here.”

The officers’ role is to assist the Guardia Civil when British nationals are victims of crime, support any criminal investigations where Britons are victims, witnesses or offenders, and help British nationals who are victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse or other serious offences.