Mark Shelford was invited to the village by the Chairman of the Peasedown Community Trust, Gavin Heathcote.

Gavin said: “We’re grateful to Mark for visiting our community last week. It was an opportunity for us to discuss various issues that residents have raised with us, such as rural crime and neighbourhood policing.

“Peasedown St John is the biggest village is the South of England, so we want to make sure that it gets its ‘fair share’ of both policing resources and the overall crime reduction and prevention budget.”

Mr Shelford has been in post since 2021, having previously served as Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army where he saw active service in the Gulf War. As Police & Crime Commissioner his role is to oversee policing across the entire Avon and Somerset area.

Cllr Karen Walker (Independent, Peasedown) added: “We’re always looking at proactive ways in which we can support the police in creating safer communities. The Community Trust is currently in the process of securing funding for new ‘traffic buddies’ – which will be placed outside of our local Primary School to encourage vehicles to slow down and to ensure children feel safer when they walk to school.”

Mark Shelford met with Gavin Heathcote and Cllr Karen Walker last week at The Meeting Place Coffee Shop in Bath Road, Peasedown.