POLICE forces are to be helped in the fight against crime with the addition of scores of civilian beat bobbies.

The Home Office confirmed yesterday that funding was being made available to employ 90 community support officers in the North-East.

A number of civilians with limited powers already work with uniformed officers in the region.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said £41m was being made available to police forces across the country to recruit 1,200 community support officers, in addition to the 1,350 already employed.

There are 50 support officers working in the North-East. Their numbers will be boosted under the plan, with Cleveland Police getting an extra 20, Durham 25 and Northumbria 45. Thirty officers will join the North Yorkshire force.

The civilian officers have limited powers to deal with anti-social behaviour and disorder. They include the power of detention for 30 minutes. They can issue fixed penalty notices to people causing a public nuisance, for littering or dog fouling.

They have powers to confiscate alcohol and cigarettes from young people and to use reasonable force to detain a person or prevent them from making off.

Other powers include stopping vehicles for road checks and removing abandoned vehicles.

Durham Police Assistant Chief Constable Ron Hogg said: "Community support officers provide a visible and accessible uniformed presence.

"Working in conjunction with beat officers, they can make a significant contribution to improving the feeling of safety across communities by addressing anti-social behaviour, the fear of crime, environmental issues and other factors which affect the quality of people's lives."

County Durham has ten community support officers, who are based in Darlington. Its extra staff will be based in Derwentside, Durham and Chester-le-Street from early July.