INSPECTOR Keith Bridges this week called on Watchet residents to speak out when they see anything suspicious and not to brush it under the carpet if they want to stamp out crime.

He said people needed to use their eyes and ears and report incidents to the police and should not be afraid of coming forward and giving evidence in court.

But he disagreed with residents' perception of Watchet as a none too pleasant place to live. He said this was not the case and crime was not on the increase.

He also told Tuesday night's meeting of the West Somerset Crime and Disorder Partnership that:

l The chances of money from the Home Office to fund CCTV cameras around the town were negligible and "extremely remote".

l During the summer, the police were dealing with three burglaries in West Somerset every day, but after six culprits were jailed the count fell to one or two break-ins a week.

l 80 per cent of all burglaries in the district were driven by the need to fund a drug habit and he himself was not in favour of cannabis being legalised as it was a "gateway" drug to harder substances.

l Drug use was far more widespread in Minehead than Watchet with heroin being the preferred drug.

In a graph, crime levels were shown to fluctuate during the summer and winter months as tourists pushed up the population figures.

Unlike the winters of 1998 and 1999, there had been no dip in crime last winter - but Inspector Bridges put this down to a certain group of criminally active people who stayed on in the area after the summer.

"The population fluctuates over the year because of tourists but the vast majority of the problems stem from the locals and it is true too that tourists are often the victims."

He added: "We need people to come forward and be witnesses because, of the vast majority of crime that is committed, we have a shrewd idea of who has done it but we need the evidence to prove it before we go to court."

Inspector Bridges said: "There is a perception that Watchet is not a pleasant place to live because of crime, but that is spread everywhere.

"Minehead has many more crimes and has deteriorated while Watchet has improved and as a town is a relatively safe place to live."

The meeting was told that 32 officers police a 32,000 population in West Somerset 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

Inspector Bridges said: "My men suffer injuries, sickness and take time off on top of the fact that it takes two years to train a police officer properly.

"Everybody wants to see more officers but you are not going to. The jam is spread fairly thin.

"In the first six months of this year, there were 1,600 crimes and 600 arrests made. Every arrest takes [officers] off the street for an average of four hours."

He said that, unlike other constabularies, Avon and Somerset did not have a problem recruiting officers and there was a queue waiting to be relocated after training.

But one aspect of a police officer's role which he did find frustrating was the amount of paperwork needed to be completed after an arrest: "Every Government since I the joined the force has said that it would reduce paperwork but they have increased it."

On the subject of CCTV he said: "The likelihood of the Home Office funding CCTV here is negligible and extremely remote.

"The facts and figures dispute what local people feel and I know in a perfect world we would all want CCTV as it would have an impact and be effective in deterring crime.

"I am sure it is a wish that you have cameras but you are a small community with less going on."

He was challenged by marina manager Martin Clist who said that the crime figures were misleading: "Surely the charts are not quite right," said Mr Clist.

"Watchet must have more crime per capita with a population of around 3,500 and Minehead housing 8,000 residents."

Another resident suggested that simply putting more street lighting in Swain Street would help to make residents safer at night.

Inspector Bridges agreed that although street lighting had nothing to do with the police, it did have a dramatic effect on reducing crime.