A SCHEME encouraging businesses to pay for their employees to become voluntary police officers in order to keep crime down in Southend could benefit the whole town.

That is the view of Mick Thwaites, the man who used to head up the borough’s police force and now handles security for one of the town’s major employers.

He believes Stockvale - which owns Adventure Island, the Sealife Centre and other tourist attractions - would follow Southend Council in allowing workers to sign up to the Employer Supported Policing (ESP) initiative if Essex Police commits to allowing new Special Constables to remain “on patch”.

He said: “If it does get off the ground then we would be supportive of releasing staff who meet the criteria.

“Essex Police is struggling in terms of resources and officers on the ground are doing their very best in difficult circumstances.

“If there is anything that we can do to support them in terms of extra resources then I’m sure businesses will do it.”

Special Constables have the same powers as regular police officers but go out on patrol on a voluntary basis. That means they often lose money by taking time off work.

Police and Crime Commissioner Roger Hirst wants to more than double the number of Specials in order to replace axed PCSOs. However, as Essex Police retains the right to send Specials to work anywhere in the county, this is seen as a stumbling block to recruitment.

A new proposal from Southend Council could see up to five employees released for police duties at a cost of up to £2,688 in salary for 16 hours per month.

Essex Police would pay about £3,000 each to train them, but under the ESP the officers would exclusively serve the borough.

Mr Thwaites said Essex Police would have to give a “cast-iron guarantee” that - barring serious emergencies elsewhere in the county- officers would be supporting their own business areas.

He said: “Essex Police have not previously been able to guarantee those individuals would be able to patrol the area where these businesses released them.

“There has got to be strict criteria - and a performance criteria - agreed between the business and the police. That protocol has got to be clear.”

Mr Thwaites said a similar agreement was made between the Met Police and businesses in the busy Oxford Street and Regents Street area of London many years ago and there is no reason why a similar scheme could not benefit the High Street and seafront areas of Southend.

He added: “Police have been badly funded in Essex. We have lost 800 officers in Essex and that has had a huge impact.

“All we are doing is trying to fill a gap. First and foremost we need to get full-time colleagues. Anything we can do to contribute to that has got to be a good thing.

“The scheme would benefit business in other ways, because although they might lose some money, their employees would receive training in dealing with the public, problem solving skills and of course they would become trained experts in crime prevention.”