WEST Mercia's new chief constable spoke of the need to mix old policing methods with new during his one-day tour of Herefordshire.

Paul West visited Ross-on-Wye, Ledbury, Bromyard and Hereford as he gained his first insight into his new 'patch' as head of the region's police force and spoke of the importance to balance high visibility policing with covert operations.

"West Mercia is already one of the safest areas of the country to live and work and I have no intention of introducing change for the sake of change," he said.

"It is important that we provide reassurance to local communities by achieving high levels of visibility in our towns, cities and rural areas. I regard foot patrols as an extremely important aspect of policing in rural areas, where officers do need to be more mobile."

"However, as society adapts and progresses, so does the police force and our methods naturally have to become more sophisticated. At times we need to keep a low profile to catch criminals and covert operations are becoming an essential part of police work," he added.

Mr West, who moves to the area from his post as deputy chief constable at Thames Valley, said he was committed to tackling the county's worrying drugs problem.

Problem

"It is widely recognised that drug crime is closely related to many other forms of crime and it is a serious problem right across the country," he explained.

"Not many people purposely set out to be drug users and live a life of crime and too many people get caught up with drugs that clearly should not. Part of the trick is to break this cycle and keep people away from crack cocaine and heroin and also help the people who are addicted to these hard drugs away from that way of life," he added.