Bridport and west Dorset is set to benefit from a policing uplift programme to recruit more officers.

At a Bridport Town Council meeting, Neighbourhood Inspector for West Dorset, Darren Stanton, was answering a councillor's question on what the current level of policing capacity in Bridport was and what plans there were to expand this.

He said: "I am really excited because Bridport, in terms of policing uplift, is likely to benefit from the national uplift that's coming out.

"For me, the gaps are actually down at Lyme Regis. I don't have enough officers at Lyme Regis and I don't have police officers based out of Lyme Regis Police Station. The officers that base themselves out of Bridport Police Station are responsible for covering Lyme Regis and all of the surrounding rural area.

"My promise to the local community will be, when I receive the extra officers from the chief constable and they arrive in west Dorset, there will be officers based at Lyme Regis and that will benefit Bridport because the officers that currently police Lyme Regis will be able to focus more on the issues in Bridport."

He also announced that Bridport has a new PCSO, Kat Newman, replacing PCSO Paul Miners who is now a PC in west Dorset.

However, Inspector Stanton said he was "realistic he may not be at the very top of the pecking order" in terms of where resources get allocated, but the first resources will be going into the rural crime team and county lines team, which will benefit the town.

He added: "If there is a fully staffed county lines team, your local neighbourhood officers can concentrate on all the other local neighbourhood issues they need to address.

"If you've got one county line in a town like Bridport, your neighbourhood team is doing nothing else other than policing and targeting of that county line.

"I am grateful that the resources are going into the tight areas and I think you can be reassured from my perspective that they are."

He reassured councillors that there were no active county lines in Bridport, but "that could change in 24 hours".

A Dorset Police spokesman said: "Despite the challenges of Covid-19, Dorset Police has continued to work to recruit its share of the 20,000 extra officers promised nationally by the Government and funded through the Uplift programme.

"The force remains on track to recruit 50 new officers by the end of March 2021 and awaits details from the Home Office of the allocation of additional officers for the next two years.

"Neighbourhood Policing Teams across Dorset are to receive additional officers as part of the programme and Bridport and west Dorset will benefit from this locally.

"These much-needed extra officers are great news for the communities that we serve in Dorset during this difficult time and will bring a welcome relief to our stretched workforce."

During the meeting, Inspector Stanton gave an overview of policing currently in Bridport and the surrounding areas and answered councillors' questions.

He mentioned the recent drugs raid at an address in Bridport in which the 10kg of cannabis was seized with around £100,000 worth of drugs taken off the streets of Bridport, as well as a significant amount of cash.

Inspector Stanton also revealed that following a homophobic incident and race-related incident in the town in September, in which two people were arrested, one has been charged and the other remains under investigation.

In terms of an incident in which a Bridport shopkeeper was abused for displaying a Black Lives Matter image in her window, he said: "No further action was taken because there was insufficient evidence, but the perpetrator of that matter was identified and spoken to by police."

He also outlined the current local policing policies. These are:

• Deliver engagement to prevent and educate the community against scams

• Disrupt 'County Lines' networks and criminal exploitation of vulnerable people

• Reduce anti-social behaviour

• Policing our rural communities in partnership with the rural crime team

Another question raised by councillors was how the force can help in dealing with the ongoing issue of cycling on the pavement.

This was unable to be answered during the meeting but we received this response:

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: "Local officers do stop and engage with cyclists they see doing this and seek to educate and explain how dangerous this can be. Enforcement remains an option, but would not be resorted to first.

"The Dorset Road Safe website provides a useful table to outline what is a police matter and what is a council matter when it comes to reporting these types of issues as they don't fall down to policing. It also includes a link to Operation Snap where the public can submit photographic or video offences of driving offences they see.

"It is important for the public to understand who the most appropriate agency to report their matter to is."

The proportion of black people in stop and search in Dorset was also brought up, following a report in June it was 31 to 1.

Deputy Chief Constable Scott Chilton said the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistic for Dorset show a disproportionality rate of 22.5 and early indications from this year's figures show that this rate continues to decrease and is currently at around 18.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services recently inspected a sample of Dorset Police's searches, which showed 93 per cent had appropriate grounds and its find rate was "significantly higher" than most other forces.

He said: "Although this is encouraging, we recognise that any disproportionality can raise concerns and affect people's perception of policing and, in Dorset, we are working hard to do all we can to reduce disproportionality and, in particular, ensure our use of stop and search is lawful, justified and necessary."

Martyn Underhill, Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner, said the figures were still too high and had challenged the chief constable on the issue.

"I am not happy about this position," he said. "I set up a stop and search scrutiny panel, which is now three to four-years-old, and we have body worn video.

"I ordered an independent review which reported back to me and that had 13 recommendations for Dorset Police, all of which have been implemented.

"They must get to the bottom of this stop and search disproportionality.

"The chief constable and I are funding academic research to try and understand what is going on here because this has gone on for far too long."

Deputy Chief Constable Scott Chilton added that staff also had unconscious bias training and introduced senior level scrutiny of the force's approach.

He said: "We are making progress in this area and will continue to engage with our communities, especially those who suffer prejudice and racism in their everyday lives to make sure they feel supported and protected by our officers and staff, and we will continue learning lessons to improve the service we offer."