AN AWARD-WINNING volunteer police officer has criticised the level of policing in parts of south Warwickshire and the north Cotswolds.

Jeremy Wiggin, 41, who was named Warwickshire Special of the Year last week, said that, since January, Shipston and the surrounding area has had fewer officers to cover a bigger patch.

Mr Wiggin, a sheep farmer from Honington, said: "I think there should be more police officers in Shipston. Rural policing is being squeezed ever thinner. We don't have the highest crime rate but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have a police presence."

His comments come within days of being presented with his trophy by Warwickshire Chief Constable Keith Bristow. He will now represent the county in the national Special of the Year finals.

At the end of January, Shipston lost two police constables from its contingent of a sergeant, four police constables and three PCSOs. At the same time, the patch, which stretches south to Long Compton and Little Compton, was expanded to include Long Marston and the Quintons and other rural areas around Stratford, including Snitterfield.

The move prompted concern from local Neighbourhood Watch representatives, who, along with Stratford MP John Maples and Shipston mayor Alan Noyce, met with Chief Superintendent Neil Brunton to air their views.

Mike Robbins, chairman of Shipston Neighbourhood Watch, said: "We are concerned because there are less police around and also less visible presence.

"It doesn't make sense to increase the amount of ground they are covering and reduce the number of people they've got."

Stratford District Commander, Chief Inspector Chris Wadsworth, said the Shipston Safer Neighbourhood Team was "temporarily increased" by two PCs last year to support specific operations.

She said there were now separate SNTs for Shipston and Wellesbourne, with two police officers and three PCSOs dedicated to each of the former SNT areas. This effectively represented an increase of one and half posts since 2006, she added.

"These changes reflect rural policing over a large area and by no means reduce policing ability," said CI Wadsworth.

Sergeant Darren Fretwell, head of the Stratford Rural Safer Neighbourhood Team, praised Mr Wiggin's contribution as a special constable.

"He knows the community and he supports the team," he said.

Stratford MP John Maples, who lives in Brailes near Shipston, condemned as "absolutely staggering" a 12.9 per cent increase in Warwickshire's police precept agreed last week.

"I have written to the chairman of the police authority asking him to look at this again and I propose to write to the government asking them to cap the increase at 3.5 per cent," he said.