GUY Rutter is handing 'more officers than ever' to his successor as Herefordshire's police chief.

And if numbers are up, so is confidence in what is being done with them, he says.

About 300 officers of all ranks are at work across a division that, says Chief Supt Rutter, encompasses every challenge facing 21st century policing - from urban drugs issues to rural response.

He is swapping those officers and challenges for a new command at Shrewsbury. On the way next month is new boss Chief Supt Kevin Bentley, who honed his skills on the same streets as those he is soon to lead.

Some of them still remember Chief Supt Bentley from his time here in patrol and CID. Others will know him by reputation as one of West Mercia's top detectives.

There is, says Chief Supt Rutter, a 'buzz' about Hereford division. Groundwork done during tough times at the start of his five-year term is coming to fruition.

He came to a command haemorrhaging experience and initiative and the budget cuts of 1999-2000 were to run deep.

Dissatisfaction with local police service was well documented then and one of his frustrations has been in getting the 'flip side' across since.

Policing by consent and co-operation was his creed and - by and large - he believes that is what he has achieved, the success of such schemes as local beat officers, parish officers and Community Speedwatch being cases in point.

But 'off beat' ideas are working too. The county, for instance, has a number of officers eager to swap patrol cars for bicycles thanks to the enthusiasm of two pioneers.

Behind the frontline, little-publicised teams like the Intelligence Squad and Family Protection Unit are making a real difference to crime statistics and victim's lives.

There is regret in that some cases have yet to be solved. Chief Supt Rutter would like to go with answers to the attempted murder of Clare Thomas at Leintwardine or the death of Albert Ryall at Risbury.

But if 'everything that could have happened has happened', Herefordshire can claim to be one of the safest parts of the country in which to live, he says.