THE Forest of Dean's mobile police office – a mobile home converted to a mini police station and dubbed the 'bobby bus' by the force PR – is the envy of the county.

The £30,000 vehicle has been introduced as an innovative way of taking policing back into the communities which no longer have a resident 'village bobby'.

It was sponsored by a number of sources including £15,000 from the Forest of Dean District Council's safety partnership group.

And such is its success, and a follow-up trial in the Cotswolds, that they too want a similar facility and are asking for local sponsorship to copy the Forest model.

"The Mobile Police Office is a modern platform from which we hope to deliver elements of a traditional policing service, and is a totally new way of working for us," said rural beat officer PC Rob Dix, who is manning the unit along with PC Denise Meredith in the Forest South area.

They are working up a schedule of regular visits in tandem with a schedule to serve the Forest North area, after curtailing an earlier schedule to avoid crisscrossing the Forest during foot and mouth restrictions. Hopefully the 'rounds' would be repeated every other week.

PC Dix is keen to explain the versatility of the unit which allows people to visit their local police officers in a relaxed environment to talk over local issues and crime worries.

They can also visit schools and youth clubs and take youngsters aboard to show educational films on a video unit, he says, and as far as crime is concerned their tours to date have helped to solve a burglary and given several promising leads.

"We very much need the public's support and backing for this initiative, and we can only measure its success by good feedback," said PC Dix.

And although the term 'bobby bus' might be seen by PR people as a 'cuddly' way to present the force's approachable image, he said, it shouldn't be ignored that the underlying purpose was serious policing.

Other aspects of policing in the Forest were still on-going and schedules for the bus could be interrupted by other events, he added.

Schedule for next week: Monday, July 16, afternoon English Bicknor (Smithy's Close), Staunton (White Horse); evening Newland (Oakland House), Clearwell (Post Office); Tuesday morning Broadwell (Wynolls Estate), St Briavels (Smithville Close); afternoon Brockweir (The Triangle), Redbrook (Millennium Green); Wednesday morning Milkwall (Westbury Estate), Ellwood (opposite school); afternoon Sling (Club car park), Bream (Rylands Road); Thursday morning Sedbury (Buttington Road), Netherend (Crescent), Woolaston (Birchwood Road); afternoon Alvington (Garlands Road), Aylburton (Milling Crescent); Friday morning Joys Green (phone box), Lydbrook (British Legion), Worrall Hill (Valley Road); afternoon Berry Hill (The Globe), Mile End (Perch Drive).