HOW well do YOU know your local bobby, or Community Beat Manager as he — or she — is called in these politically correct times?

Have you seen him strolling down your street or round the town centre? Do you know his name?

If you don’t it’s a safe bet that your young children or grandchildren know him, certainly by sight and probably by his first name. And it’s likely he’ll know them.

Neighbourhood policing has been pioneered and developed in Lancashire in the past few years and it’s been one of the force’s success stories.

You’re much more likely to see a police officer walking along your street or town centre these days — and it’s a reassuring sight.

Well, I know my beat bobby. And so do most of the folk round where I live.

PC Phil Hambley is the longest serving of about eight neighbourhood officers in Darwen and the rural areas and he knows the south end of Darwen as well as anyone.

He’s 42 and a family man and couldn’t be happier patrolling the terraces and the leafy avenues around Redearth, Priory, Spring Vale and Whitehall.

“I love it,” he told me as he sank a glass of orange on the front lawn. “There’s always something different and everyone is very friendly.”

Phil spent 13 years as a response officer but jumped at the community role when it came up.

He has three sons and three grandchildren and enjoys working with children.

“Youth issues are probably the biggest part of my job,” he says.

Translation: Yobs are a damn nuisance. But he knows them and they know him.

“I’ve watched them grow up,” he says. I knew the 15 year olds when they were at junior school. Most of them are fine. Some aren’t.”

Phil devised an excellent crime and behaviour education strategy with help from Ashleigh primary school and he took it round local schools so successfully that Lancashire police chiefs have introduced it county wide.

The initiative draws comparisons between losing pocket money and being fined, getting grounded and being jailed, having to wash up and community service. It gets the point home.

“The police force has changed so much,” he says. “We work with such a variety of agencies; housing associations, schools, and social and mediation services.

“It really is a team game, especially for those of us working closely with local communities.”

The equipment has certainly changed. Stab vests are mandatory and Phil doesn’t even have a notebook now. He carries a small computer and a printer — as well as the latest “truncheon”, pepper spray and handcuffs. It’s heavy work on a hot day!

So, next time you see Phil or one of his colleagues walking around with a bit of a sweat on, offer ‘em a cold drink or the use of your loo. It would probably be appreciated.

  • Phil's next community meeting is at Ashleigh Primary School on Wednesday at 6.45pm. Call in if you have a bit of time to spare. If you live in other areas look out for their PACT meetings.