A NEW man has taken up the reins of the police's St Helens town-centre neighbourhood patch...and he reckons he's got plenty of tactics up his sleeve for the challenge ahead.

Inspector Peter Costello, 33, has stepped into the shoes of John Vaudrey to become the new neighbourhood inspector for the town centre.

He will oversee several fresh projects. These include officers doing shifts patrolling on a mountain bike and the opening of a police town-centre base in the Church Square shopping centre.

Officers greeting bus passengers as they arrive in the town on an early evening could also be on the agenda. Gangs of youths in particular would be met so police can warn them to toe the line.

More generally, Insp Costello's role will encompass managing the policing of a thriving town-centre night scene, helping businesses in the battle against crooks, and stamping out yobbish antics and any drugs menaces.

But the responsibilities will stretch much further than the area perceived as the town centre zone. A reshuffle in ward boundaries has led to changes to the areas local teams of bobbies now patrol. The town-centre zone now stretches out past Greenbank, Peasley Cross, Fingerpost and Queens Park.

Insp Costello said: "The biggest challenge is balancing the responses to the business, commerce and leisure element of the town centre with the demands of the other communities.

"I will have officers dedicated to the town centre and officers dedicated to the different communities, with a team that also includes traffic wardens and three community support officers."

This town-centre team have got several crime-cracking initiatives going on. Shoplifters face more scrutiny under the Shopwatch project - which sees stores keeping in touch via radio and sharing information if they are suspicious of a shopper. Under the latest move, images of the top 10 shoplifting subjects have been passed to shops that are part of the scheme.

Watch out for a bobby patrolling the neighbourhood on a mountain bike. "It is all about being visible," says Insp Costello of the new initiative.

Further examples could also see the inspector briefing officers out on the streets where problems of disorder or crime have been highlighted.

If you live in the town-centre neighbourhood and want to report a crime contact 0151 777 6969. To get in touch with the town-centre team phone 0151 777 6046.