POLICE and council bosses had promised they are not withdrawing from the Maldon district.

Essex Police and Maldon District Council launched their new partnership on Monday, where council community support officers were given handheld cameras to crackdown on driving crimes.

The scheme will mean officers will be able to get out to 54 sites across the district which have been identified by parish councils and residents as hot spots for driving offences.

At the launch in Wickham Bishops on Monday, Essex Police’s Casualty Reduction Officer Adam Pipe, said the force is operating in “very, very challenging times” but the Maldon district would always be supported.

He said: “This initiative is not about police withdrawing from the Maldon district. We’re working with more partners so they can provide the above and beyond to those smaller communities to place personnel where we have more difficulty getting to.

“We want to be able to gather intelligence to take the high end offenders off the roads.

“The roads are the arteries of harm, and people will exploit them to do damage. This partnership with the council is a big push forward to tackle that.”

Roger Hirst, Essex’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, said: “We need to take the message out of this room that speeding kills, to our families, friends and colleagues. We will see speeding and dangerous driving every day, and we need to be able to do something about it.

“We must educate people, and had no tolerance for dangerous driving.

“Our aim is to one day be able to accept dash-cam footage from every member of the public. There’s a lot of evidence we can gather.”