Police boost a nod in the right direction...

Wednesday's announcement that Sussex Police Authority has given funding for a further 47 police officers to swell the ranks of neighbourhood policing teams is undoubtedly good news.

The public has been calling for "more bobbies on the beat" for years, even though this has frequently been decried as a "simplistic" response by folk who don't understand the finer points of policing.

However, the public knows that it works.

And it can be demonstrated that it works. Where there is a localised problem and more resources are spared to "focus" on it the problem is quelled.

The principle of neighbourhood policing is sound. Locally-based officers get to know their "patch," understand its problems and know which areas (and individuals) to target.

Crucially, they also build up a rapport with the community which results in them getting the kind of information vital to intelligence-led policing.

There is, of course, some "fine print" to this week's announcement.

No public service comes without cost. Note the words of the authority's lead member on neighbourhood policing: "The people I speak to in Sussex welcome the development of neighbourhood policing. They tell me that, provided this is where their money is going, they are prepared to pay for it..."

This cautionary statement comes in a week when the Council Tax bills for the coming year are thudding heavily on to the doormat.

The second point to bear in mind is that while the neighbourhood policing teams of Sussex will be getting a very welcome 47 further officers there are 53 teams.

That means less than one per team - and the reinforcements will be going where they are needed most.

Still, it's a step in the right direction.

Bexhill's own Neighbourhood Policing Team has had some significant successes lately.

The saving of a toddler's life by two of its members demonstrates that there is no substitute for having trained officers out on the streets.

If they hadn't happened to be passing when the tot started to choke this week's good-news story would have been a tragic one indeed.