CUTTING CRIME TAKES CENTRE STAGE IN LIB DEM LOCAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Sir Menzies Campbell hit the campaign trail today, visiting four London boroughs - Southwark, Lambeth, Sutton and Richmond-upon-Thames - and highlighting crime prevention as a central theme in the party's local election campaign.

Sir Menzies said:

"Preventing crime is very much a liberal issue. The Liberal Democrats have pioneered a wide range of successful crime cutting measures at local level, measures which have a real impact on ensuring that we don't just talk tough on crime, we actually tackle it.

Visiting the Liberal Democrat-controlled London borough of Sutton, Sir Menzies said:

"The Liberal Democrats are taking positive action to reduce crime. In Sutton, our innovative approach to getting the police and local authority to work within a single management structure has produced positive results - improving community safety and reducing the fear of crime."

More than 60 council staff and police officers are located in Sutton Police Station. The teams working together include police safer neighbourhood teams, drug and alcohol abuse services, neighbourhood wardens, parks police, domestic violence services, police community support officers, special constables, police volunteers, schools, youth crime and truancy liaison officers. Both police and local authority licensing departments are also located in the police station.

The themes for the Liberal Democrat campaign are "safer, fairer, greener". The party is also campaigning for the abolition of the unfair council tax and positive environmental action in our local communities.