TWELVE new Community Wardens to be recruited

Redcar and Cleveland Council today announced plans to begin a recruiting drive which will add another 12 community safety wardens to its successful borough-wide service, bringing the number of wardens to 35 by April 1.

The increase in personnel will help the service, which currently operates from the Borough's six police stations on a seven-day shift pattern, widen its targets of tackling antisocial behaviour and enviro crime.

The Council's Cabinet Member for Community Safety Councillor Joyce Benbow said: "We are absolutely delighted to be in a position to extend the service.

"We hope that, along with the increased numbers of Police Community Safety Officers, we can show a far greater uniformed presence on the streets, working in partnership with the Police and other agencies as part of the Neighbourhood Policing approach."

Councillor Benbow explained: "We had intended to increase numbers in the current financial year, but haven't been able to because of budget pressures. Those pressures have now been reduced with so we are in a position to recruit new wardens.

"We are looking for men and women who are good communicators, can use their initiative in all sorts of situations and will try to instil a real sense of pride, encouraging the community to improve the quality of everyone's lives."

The service, which was launched in 2000, will see some wardens allocated to the existing teams, bolstering numbers in each of the Council's six areas and the rest will form a dedicated team to deal with specific 'hot spot' areas where enviro-crime is prevalent and to assist in the implementation of the new smoke-free legislation.

Councillor Benbow said: "This expansion of our already much-improved warden service, following the review of hours in 2005, shows that our commitment to a cleaner, greener, safer Borough is as strong as ever.

"We believe that the extra staff will allow us to provide a more focused service and give support in dealing with any matters arising from the implementation of the smoke-free legislation coming into force on July 1."