POLICE plan to carry out a major "root and branch" review of part of their North Yorkshire beat.

The force's eastern area was formed two years ago, bringing together the districts of Hambleton, Ryedale and Scarborough.

However, since then, new challenges have arisen, including police reform, a sharper focus on performance and increasing expectations from the community.

The new review will be led by the eastern area's operational commander, Superintendent David Short, who said: "The time is now right to look at how we engage with our communities, agencies and partners so that we can provide high quality policing services in the most cost- effective way.

"This project will be tightly focused on those issues which are of most concern to the community, such as police visibility, accessibility and reassurance."