The police contact points around Bradford and in the Aire Valley have clearly been a useful addition to the service the police provide. In fact they have been such a success that they have impressed delegates from Sweden, Ireland, Wales and the West Midlands who have come along to see the system in action.

The districts in which these contact points are based now have somewhere that residents can go to seek advice and information and to report matters that concern them. The volunteers who currently help to man them alongside police officers and police community support officers (PCSOs) are doing a good job.

More are needed, though, if the contact points are to make even more of an impact. While the service is certainly an important one, there simply isn't enough of it. The new centre at Baildon, for instance, is only open twice a week, for around two hours on each occasion. The contact point at Silsden opens every Wednesday afternoon for two hours, the one at Wrose for one hour every Tuesday.

Those who need advice from the police, or have information to pass on to them, outside those brief hours must contact the force through the usual channels or wait perhaps for days until their local centre is open.

The contact points are undoubtedly very useful even in their present form. Expanded, they can further strengthen links between the public and the police. However it is unlikely that people will get the same reassurance from them that comes from having a permanent high-profile police presence in the community.