AS Borough and County councillor for Ormsgill and also a resident I welcome the news of having a dedicated officer back on Ormsgill.

I can relate to when we had PC Hamilton on our streets, as I worked closely with Ollie Hamilton at the time I was Ormsgill councillor and had a good working relationship with Ollie, as did the other Ormsgill councillors.

His outstanding work with the residents and children on the estate was outstanding he had great respect from all, and the news of Ormsgill getting a dedicated officer back on the streets is fantastic and the officer to be PC Paul Ryan is brilliant news for Ormsgill.

I first worked with Paul when he first came on the scene in Ormsgill he was then our PCSO.

He gained respect from the residents from the off, and got to know the area he will be a great asset to the community and look forward to working with him again, and he knows the area and residents concerns.

We also back in the day with PC Hamilton, we had our own small police office on Middlefield.

Ollie used for anyone with concerns could drop in and have a chat, so since we are having our officer reinstated I would like to see this brought back into service if possible.

I take on board Rev. Edwards concerns for Ormsgill. I have great respect for his work and dedication he had for the area, and his work with the school and the residents, he is always for Ormsgill.

Rev. Edwards comments on criticising police for their handling of the Ormsgill Estate, saying they are 'Paying the price' and ignoring the residents concerns are wholly true.

Yes we were all outraged at this losing our dedicated officer, but not only was Ormsgill's policing cut, the borough's other wards were losing their officers also.

The police hands were tied ,the blame was down to the present Government and one Theresa May the then Home Secretary cutting police funding to ribbons hence less police the present out of touch Government are the culprits here.

So yes I welcome the news of a dedicated officer back on Ormsgill, but at this present time as Barrow 's Mayor I go all over the town and see and speak to many residents and they all say the same thing we need more police on the streets, while I am listening to Rev.Edwards concerns regarding Ormsgill, it's not just Ormsgill it's all over the town.

Bill McEwan, Ormsgill borough Councillor