THE 14 new Police Community Support Officers pounding beats in East Lancashire will be a gratifying sight in the neighbourhoods they serve.

Above all, this is because their presence helps to restore the visible policing of communities that the public wants and believes is a most-effective weapon in the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour.

And even with their limited powers -- being basically confined to dealing with minor offences such as littering and dog fouling and alcohol confiscation -- they could make a big difference to the quality of life in the communities they patrol.

Indeed, Lancashire's Chief Constable, Paul Stephenson, has already stated his hope that the new officers would help to transform problem-plagued communities into 'places where people will want to live again.'

With that prospect in mind, Lancashire can consider itself fortunate to be the first place in the country outside London to have PCSOs and that the county will have the third-highest number of them after the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester.

And although Mr Stephenson sees the role of the new officers as being supportive of regular police officers rather than one of freeing them to work on more serious crime, few will quibble if their effect is to enable the police to concentrate more on the banes of muggings and drug-driven burglary and auto-crime that people dread.

But the welcome for this departure must be qualified by the fact that, at the same time as these new patrols commence, Lancashire has not been given any money for more proper police officers.

This is not to say that the £1million government funding for the 72 PCSOs who are to be appointed across the county is unwelcome -- far from it. But if crime and problem-plagued communities had the luxury choice of seeing more regular police officers on the beat instead, they would surely prefer that -- as no doubt would our Chief Constable who clearly understands the desire for and value of maximised community policing.