I have written to local chief of police, Inspector Yelland pointing out the communities collective concerns regarding the underfunding and therefore under-resourced local police force. To say it is stretched is a major understatement. We are left dangerously exposed with totally inadequate cover at many times of the day and night. Insp. Yelland does an outstanding job with minimal resources and I am desperately aware not only of the problems, as I am sure we all are, but of the need to increase funding in the short term to avoid an escalation of crime. I am encouraging him to push hard with the PCC (who allocates the funding) for an increased budget for Newton Abbot in the light of the local drug problems which generate so much of the theft locally, particularly as all government agencies are in the process right now of setting budgets for next year. Newton urgently needs investment in the police to cope with increased problems and an increasing population. We all know the necessity of providing infrastructure for the house building explosion which we are suffering and normally think of roads, schools, shops, surgeries and so on, but the blue light services are put under additional pressure with additional residents, so must be funded accordingly.