MP criticises police chief

Nottinghamshire police have faced a rise in gun crime

The row over how Nottinghamshire's police force is organised has intensified, with a local MP taking senior officers to task.

The Labour MP for Nottingham North, Graham Allen, has accused the chief constable of mis-managing the money he is given by the government.

Mr Allen said record funding and staffing levels were being squandered.

He has accused Chief Constable Steve Green of taking officers from local police stations to support the urban areas.

Tired excuses

Mr Allen said: "If the chief constable can't deploy officers on the streets so people can see them and if he can't get people to answer the phone on time - or if he has people tied up in a response team which doesn't respond - then serious questions have to be asked.

"Not just by me but by Ken Clarke and four or five other MPs from Nottinghamshire because we are getting a bit fed up with hearing excuses and we want to see some action."

A senior officer from the Nottinghamshire constabulary said they were trying make the most of the resources they had been allocated.

Drug crime

Nottinghamshire's Assistant Chief Constable, Howard Roberts, said: "We ring-fenced a number of officers to answer emergency calls and other immediate calls.

"Then we said, 'Right, that is the officers that do that and the rest of you will go out there in the community problem solving'.

"Because we must tackle the long term problems such as drugs and the community knows there is a vast drug problem and we really have to impact on that because it causes a lot of crime."

Mr Allen will be raising the issue when he addresses the House of Commons on Wednesday.