PROPOSALS to halve the number of PCSOs funded by Wrexham Council will have a negative impact on frontline policing, it has been warned.

The authority is planning to reduce the number of community officers it pays for from nine down to four, along with a part time town centre warden to address anti-social behaviour.

Councillors raised concerns after it was revealed that it meant the number of PCSOs patrolling Caia Park will drop from nine and a half full time equivalent officers to eight.

It comes after an increase in arson attacks on the town's largest housing estate in recent weeks.

However, Chief Inspector Mark Williams from North Wales Police said the force would no longer be able to provide a PCSO for each council ward and its performance will be impacted if the cuts go ahead.

Addressing a scrutiny committee meeting this afternoon, Inspector Williams, said: "There are fewer PCSOs than there were, and we are trying to maximise delivery with fewer people.

"Things won’t necessarily be as good as they were a year ago. You as a council are funding less than half of those you were under the previous arrangement and there will be a consequence to that.

"I will not give a commitment, and I can’t because we don’t have enough numbers, to give one PCSO per council ward. We don’t have sufficient officers to provide 24/7 cover in every sector, but where we have more than one we would stagger their shift patterns."

While different areas in Wrexham would still be allocated the same percentage of PCSOs under the new arrangement, a number will see a reduction in the number of officers patrolling them.

Acton and Borras would lose two officers between them, while one and a half would be dropped from Offa and Esclusham and one lost from both Llangollen/Cefn Mawr and Ruabon/Plas Madoc.

However, the number of officers in the town centre would be boosted from two to five.

Whitegate councillor Brian Cameron voiced his fears over the changes to policing in Caia Park, which recently suffered eight arson attacks in ten days.

He said: "It looks like going to have 1.5 reduction in Caia Park at a time when anti-social behaviour is increasing, arson attacks are rising again because of the grass and it does concern me."

Meanwhile, representatives from rural areas claimed they were being let down by the police force and queried how Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation scores are used to decide the number of PCSOs for each council ward.

Cefn Mawr councillor Derek Wright said: "If officers are allocated based on areas of deprivation, how come Plas Madoc and Cefn Mawr have got much less PCSOs than more affluent areas? I can’t see how it's going to improve, things are going to get a lot worse. Who are we going to call on?"

Llangollen rural councillor Rondo Roberts said: "We very rarely see the PCSO, we feel like we’re being let down and short changed. We have an A4 piece of paper given to us with crime figures and once we had someone from outside the ward delivering it, the system’s failing."

The council had originally proposed to withdraw all of its funding for PCSOs to achieve savings, but following a public consultation members drew up an alternative plan to cut the amount it gives to North Wales Police in half.

This new proposals would achieve a potential saving of £82,000 for the next financial year, with a further £58,000 set to be made the following year.

Despite raising concerns, members of the crime and disorder scrutiny committee did not put any alternative proposals forward, but asked to be given an annual report on the new arrangements which will go before executive board members at a later date.