Police and crime commissioner Peter McCall says that Millom is a difficult place to police due to its geography.

During his visit to the town, Mr McCall got an idea of any issues in Millom and what the police officers on the ground thought of the town’s current state.

He said: “It’s part of the job to be out and about. It’s about meeting the guys on the ground and seeing what their problems are.

“It’s a way of picking up what’s going on in a particular area.

“There aren’t any problems in Millom that we don’t find elsewhere. Isolation in Millom has always been, and always will be a problem but that’s just down to the geography of the town and it’s location.”

Mr McCall was asked about what his plan was when he visited Millom, and whether the visit was to raise any particular issues or questions.

He said: “It’s a routine visit with no particular agenda really, it’s more to show that, yes there is policing going on in Millom and that it’s just as important as anywhere else.

“We’re out meeting the people of Millom and the police force to get an idea of what’s going on and what people’s thoughts are.”

Mr McCall was also asked about whether he thought Millom was having an issue with crime and whether the community could help tackle any existing crime.

He added: “Policing a place like Millom is always going to be difficult due to the isolation.

“It’s all about pulling together to keep the community safe so we can keep crime to a minimum.

“It’s all down to the community and the police force to support each other in reporting and stopping crime.”

Mr McCall said he won’t make any commitments about his policing policies for the future.

He added: “We’ve all heard broken promises from politicians before so I don’t want to make any promises for the future of policing in Millom or anywhere else.

“But I do want to finish my time in office with more police officers on duty that when I started, so far we’re on track for that.”

Concerns have been raised in the past about Millom’s lack of police station after the original station closed it’s doors in favour of a police desk at a smaller satellite station that is manned part-time.

Mr McCall was hesitant to answer whether the system worked rather than a fully manned station.

He said: “I know there’s a police desk in Millom but I am unsure how frequently it’s manned so I wouldn’t like to comment on whether it’s doing well or not.

“Cumbria is lucky as it’s one of the only counties in the country that hasn’t had it’s force diminish in the past few years, we’ve actually gained 25 in two years.”