TOWN councillors claim that the monthly newsletters sent to them by the police are “meaningless” and are calling for more effective contact.

Cockermouth Town Council met online recently. Each month they receive an email from the police with details of issues in Cockermouth and Keswick.

Councillor David Malloy said: “A lot of the information is out of date. It’s meaningless.”

Councillor Andy Semple agreed. “What we get is meaningless. What’s really important is that we have a police presence at these meetings so we can ask questions.”

Clerk Sheila Brown pointed out that she contacted the police every month and invited them to the meetings.

“It’s really not good enough if they don’t respond,” said Coun Semple. “I think we have been really charitable and not bothered them. We want to support them but it’s a two-way thing.”

Many town and parish councils feel the same way, said Councillor Alan Kennon.

“We are all trying our level best to get something out of them that’s worthwhile but it’s not happening,” he said.

It was decided that the council would contact the Cumbrian Association of Local Councils, which represents 60 town and parish councils, to gauge the views of other councils on the monthly newsletter. They would then present their findings to the Police and Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall.

Following the meeting, Inspector Rachel Gale said: “This newsletter has recently been redesigned and is still in a trial stage of seeing what works best. We of course always welcome any feedback from community representatives and will take this into account for future editions of the newsletter.”