AN EXTRA 41 officers promised by Wiltshire's police and crime commissioner are "coming".

PCC Angus Macpherson increased the share of the council tax for policing and said additional officers would be recruited as well as two dedicated cyber-crime staff.

He said: "The saying Rome wasn't built in a day has never been truer than in today's "instant world". A world where it appears that people expect everything now; it seems to me that there is no room for patience, no room for allowing things to come to fruition, and that applies to the public's expectations of Wiltshire Police.

"Back in January I consulted on the council tax precept rise of £2 a month on an average band D property; my promise to the tax payers of Wiltshire and Swindon was to give them 41 additional officers and two extra cyber-crime staff - that still stands.

"During my time attending events and market days across our county, in the last couple of months, the main question that has been asked of me is: "where are these officers you promised?".

"My answer is they are coming."

He said that last month 20 new police officers began their training and this training was not an "overnight task".

"I understand that people want to see more officers on their streets and more will be available once our new recruits are ready. More will be added to our Community Policing Teams (CPTs) and we are also on track to have additional Community Co-ordinators in post across the county by July to focus on improved visibility and community engagement.

"But we also have to be realistic - Wiltshire is the worst centrally funded Force in the country, so we have to be clever with how we spend our money. We have to do the best with what we've got which means that people won't ever see the level of policing that they unrealistically expect in this day and age; gone of the days of a bobby on every corner," added Mr Macpherson, who has been lobbying the government over funding for policing in Wiltshire.

"Policing has changed, it's not just about burglaries and robberies - cyber-crime plays a big part of what our officers have to cope with now; as I have said before, the front line has also moved in to the front room when it comes to upholding the law.

"However, our PCSOs and PCs are out there day and night, there are policing points in most towns and contrary to some beliefs our officers are visible out there patrolling our streets to keep us all safe.

"I promise this will continue under my watch and hopefully until the day Rome falls, which we all hope will be never.