RESIDENTS of a Darlington village have expressed concerns about the time it has taken police to attend some incidents.

At Middleton St George Parish Council's latest meeting, PC Boyd Rowe gave a report to members on crime in the village over the past month.

These included a burglary, a theft, a car theft, a theft from a car and 13 cases of nuisance behaviour.

However, Councillor Christine Sirrell was concerned some crimes may have not been included on the statistics, as police had not attended them.

These included an elderly woman who reported men trespassing on her driveway in the middle of the night, and youths who removed chairs from the village nursery and into the street.

Coun Sirrell said: "This wasn't youths casing annoyance, it was a criminal act.

"The police could have come and caught them in the act.

"What worries me is that they will see this as easy and the next time they will come and break into the nursery."

Council chairwoman Councillor Doris Jones said: "We're not having a go, we're very pro-police.

"We do have a police patrol here on Friday and Saturday nights, but the system is letting us down."

PC Rowe said all incidents were logged when the initial call was taken, so even if police did not arrive straight away, a record was taken of it immediately.