A POLICE inspector is urging a community to contribute to the fight against crime.

Inspector Jim Kilgallon is the new officer in charge at Stanley police station.

The 49-year-old, who was brought up in South Moor and still lives in Derwentside, is setting up a series of community forums, to be held in various public buildings around the district every two months.

They will be attended by officers and give members of the public face-to-face access to the police to tell them what the needs of their community are.

Insp Kilgallon said: "People need to be involved. This is their area, and they need to have a voice and we need to listen to what people want us to do.

"I don't think that Stanley is as close-knit as it used to be, but the pits have closed and it is time to move on.

"I think there is still a strong community spirit in Stanley, but it needs to be tapped into.

"I want to encourage people to influence change by contributing to these meetings."

Insp Kilgallon will celebrate 25 years of police service later this year.

He joined the Metropolitan police force, in London, as a rookie bobby when he was 24, and later transferred to Durham Police.

He has worked at headquarters in Aykley Heads, in Durham, and set up an integrity unit to deal with corruption within the force.

Insp Kilgallon was more recently a core inspector, monitoring shifts in east Durham, before his transfer to Stanley.

He said: "This is like a dream job for me, because this is the area I am from.

"The highest priority is to improve the quality of life for the people in this area.

"My main issue is that I want to reduce the anti-social behaviour by working with the people of Stanley and the surrounding areas.

"I can only do this with help from the public, and that is what I am asking people to do. We need them to attend these meetings. "There is no point in having them if no one turns up."

The dates, times and venues of the community forums are yet to be fixed.