A NEW seven strong team has been introduced to police Cricklewood town centre.

Sergeant Simone O'Neill and six Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) will patrol the area around Cricklewood Broadway.

The team has been launched following a review by senior Barnet Police officers to decide which areas could benefit from an extra police presence.

Sergeant O’Neill, who leads the half-dozen community officers, said: “My officers are already having an impact, and have been able to liaise successfully with some of those involved in anti-social behaviour.

”Residents and businesses in the area have also spoken to us to say how much more reassured they feel to have this extra daily high visibility police presence.”

The latest police figures, released last month, revealed that the area around the broadway is a burglary hotspot.

Borough Commander Neil Basu told the Times Series that the area was suffering from cross-border crime, with criminality displaced from the neighbouring boroughs of Brent and Camden into the Barnet section of Cricklewood.

Ward councillor Monroe Palmer has also raised the issue of street drinkers who gather outside the Cricklewod B&Q store from the mid afternoon.

He welcomed the new police team but said beat officers are backing his call for a ban on drinking in the street.

Under the Violent Crime Reduction Act officers have the power to order drinkers to leave an area for up to 48 hours, but Mr Palmer said it does not work.

He said: “They have to give them written notice and make sure they read it and understand it.

“If they come back there's probably another officer on duty by then.”

The team can be contacted via the Childs Hill ward Safer Neighbourhood Team on 020 8733 5554.