Fighting crime, keeping our neighbourhoods safe and maybe even signing a few autographs are all in a day’s work for PC Tony ‘Tex’ Freeman.

Tex, from Taunton, is a police officer in Bridgwater and star of the BBC1 show, Neighbourhood Blues, a documentary series which follows the work of two of Avon and Somerset’s police teams.

Having the camera watching your every move must be difficult to get used to, and for Tex, was a concept he had to learn to ignore.

“It was really strange at first,” he says.

“It felt so alien and it takes some getting used to, but you have to ignore it.

“We would be filmed just driving around on patrols even when we weren’t dealing with anything and when the camera stops filming, you’ve still got your microphone on so the crew can hear every word you say.

“They’ve filmed us on standard days and it can be very hit and miss- one day they’ll catch us doing mundane crimes and neighbour disputes and other times it’ll be something much bigger, like the seizure of around 203 cannabis plants that will be on the next series.

“Sometimes we get to an incident and the people there don’t want to be filmed, or want their face blanked out.

“It’s a shame because they’ve filmed some great stuff but can’t show it.

“The funniest part was when we were filmed finding some outdoor cannabis plants and Susie, the camera lady, tripped over and broke the camera.”

The BBC approached Avon and Somerset Police and asked if they could film.

The officers were then asked if any of them would like to be involved.

“People expect police shows to be all car chases and extreme things, so it’s great to show people what really happens on a daily basis,” says Tex, 47/

“A lot of it is disputes, helping people, small crime and talking to agencies about how we can be proactive and solve problems long term.”

Tex has been an officer in Bridgwater for the last 13 years, after coming out of the military.

Now, as one of the stars of Neighbourhood Blues, he gets recognised when he’s out and about.

“It’s quite cringeable really,” says Tex.

“We took a colleague to Musgrove and someone said aren’t you the guy from that police show?

“It’s happened about ten times.

“The show is a great experience for me, and it sounds quite corny but I became a police officer because you can help people and do what you can.

“Obviously there are times when you’re frightened and when you know there’s a violent incident your mind starts ticking and worrying about what could happen.

“We’ve all been assaulted doing this job.

“Bridgwater and my beat area, which is a large radius, is a great place to work.

“Even on a quiet shift we can cover around 130 miles.

“It’s hit and miss, as the filming shows, but no day can be the same.”