ISSUES on rural policing in the North-East have been brought to the Chancellor of the Exchequer by one of the region’s MPs.

Simon Clarke, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, met with Philip Hammond in Parliament to discuss how Cleveland Police allocated manpower across his constituency.

The Stockton-born MP used the meeting as an opportunity to ask that any surplus public money should be re-routed to support the police.

Following the discussion in the capital, Mr Clarke went on to write to the Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid to ask that the issue be looked at as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement in December.

The action comes ahead of a rally to be held in Brotton’s Railway Arms pub in east Cleveland, at 11am on Saturday, in a bid to offer a larger police presence for residents in the area.

Mr Clarke has replied to letter from Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger to warn that he does not accept the position that a lack of resources is purely down to funding.

In a letter to Mr Coppinger, the MP states: “Cleveland Police has a budget of £122m and the fourth highest ratio of officers to population in England and Wales.

“People in East Cleveland are not being unreasonable in wanting a couple of dozen more to strengthen police presence there.”