THE new neighbourhood manager for Somerset West will oversee the roll out in north Taunton and Wellington of a police initiative that has seen crime plummet on a council estate.

Inspector Richard Caburn has taken the post covering Taunton Deane and West Somerset and says his main priorities will be tackling anti-social behaviour, domestic abuse and care for all victims of crime.

He is keen to replicate the One Team approach in Halcon, the brainchild of Sgt Andy Murphy, which has seen crime there fall by 41%, in the Priorswood area of Taunton and in Wellington.

“It’s been tremendously successful in Halcon, where the police have been meeting regularly with other agencies and dealing with issues swiftly and appropriately to make a real change in the community,” said Insp Caburn.

His previous roles included the post of sergeant in Wellington, and operational incident manager in Yeovil and Taunton, as well as support inspector in West Somerset, supporting the chief inspector in dealing with complaints and other policing issues.

Speaking of his new position, he added: “It will be challenging, but I’m looking forward to it – it fits in well with the link-up between Taunton Deane and West Somerset Councils and our ongoing work with them and our other partners.

“We are working to ensure better co-ordination and integration of local services, earlier intervention, working together to tackle issues of concern such as road safety and hopefully increasing transparency, trust and confidence in the police.”

He paid tribute to his predecessor, Insp Bob Muckett, who head up successful efforts to get the Hush legal high shop in Bridge Street, Taunton, closed for six months.