NO topic has dominated our letters columns in recent years as much as the 76 per cent rise in the amount we pay in our bill for the police.

Now that the initial fury at the increase has died down, it is quite clear that the people of Craven are determined to put their police under much closer scrutiny.

It all adds up to the first big test for North Yorkshire's relatively new chief constable. If she fails to show the money has been well spent by demonstrating real improvements in the policing of the county, then her career may not be quite so glittering as she would hope.

It will be a difficult act to pull off. Every incident of residents phoning up and waiting for excessive periods until the police turn up will be used in evidence, prompt response and a job well done will be seen as just normal service.

One difficulty the police face is the public's lingering nostalgia for seeing the "bobby on the beat". Sadly someone walking the streets is of little, if any, use when a car is stolen or a house is burgled and the villains flee in their high-powered cars. However, they do have a deterrent effect, particularly on anti-social behaviour and the public does feel reassured.

Much may depend on the impact of the community support officers, announced by the Government in a blaze of publicity. Recruitment for 38 to be deployed across North Yorkshire is already taking place and they should be in place shortly. It is unlikely that they will be sufficient to assuage the festering discontent at the big increases residents are currently funding.