THERE will be a great welcome today for the announcement of £1million government funding to pay for the creation of 72 new community support officers' posts to back up the police in Lancashire.

Above all, it will be greeted for the commitment by the Chief Constable, Paul Stephenson, to deploying them as a visible and accessible police presence to make the streets safer and turn more communities into places where people want to live.

For, as was seen only last week when the Home Office was announcing record numbers of officers in the police, opinion poll evidence showed that not only is the deployment of bobbies on the beat the people's top priority, but also that a great many complain that they never see any on patrol in their area.

And although Lancashire Police have extended community policing and Mr Stephenson has pledged more, the addition of these new community support officers could make a swift and significant impact not only on crime, but on fear of it.

It may be that they are, in essence, auxiliaries with limited powers -- ranging from the issuing of fixed penalties for dog fouling and littering and confiscating alcohol to seizing vehicles and detaining people for up to 30 minutes -- but they can make a real difference.

Just their being seen on the streets often and regularly will give people confidence that their community is being safeguarded. And if their powers are employed to ensure the place is kept clean and free of litter and anti-social behaviour, the communities they serve will improve, become more pleasant and less easy for offenders to target.

Equally encouraging is the assurance that this scheme is not a temporary measure -- as funding is guaranteed for the future in addition to the £1million granted for its first year. For this is an effort that needs to be kept up -- so that the restoration of the bobby on the beat as an everyday sight and potent weapon against crime becomes the norm again.