LANCASHIRE Police is set to increase its number of special officers by just under 50 per cent over the next 12 months.

The force has set out to hire 70 new voluntary officers every three months in a bid to make strong special constabulary in 'to ensure the force continues to perform at high level at a time when we continue to face cuts

to our budget'.

Police and crime commissioner Clive Grunshaw said: "Lancashire has a thriving special constabulary – one that we can all be proud of. The work of the volunteers who give up their time to make the county a safer place is absolutely vital. The thousands of hours these people spend supporting the work of Lancashire Police mean we can better support local communities and provide the visible police presence that we know residents value.

"Lancashire's special constabulary continues to grow – numbers have increased to 520 in the last year and we

are committed to recruiting 70 special constables every quarter this year. A strong special constabulary is

vital if we are to ensure the force continues to perform at high level at a time when we continue to face cuts

to our budget. Lancashire has one of the top performing forces in the country and specials will play a key role

as we strive to build on that success."

Mr Grunshaw said the force was working towards the total integration of special and regular officers and said specials are recruited, trained and deployed in the same way as regular officers.

The force's annual specials report showed that 153 specials were recruited last year. Specials volunteered 151,616 hours and performed 23, 794 duties.

In East Lancashire specials played a major part in planning and delivering resources for the 2015 Tour of Britain. They also ran operations in the Ribble Valley to target alcohol-related issues and anti-social behaviour.

For more information visit www.lancashire.police.uk/join-us/special-constables.