THE face may have changed, but the new police inspector for Bordon and Whitehill, Laurie Rickwood, said this week that that was the only difference the public would notice, now that he had stepped into the shoes of Inspector Gerry Thorne.

Insp Thorne has moved to Alresford and will retire from the force at the end of this year. Insp Rickwood took up his new position just before Christmas.

"Gerry Thorne was here a long time and knew all of the people in the area," he said. "He worked very hard to ensure crime was low and he kept the good relations he had with the community. I will do my best to contact those people and make sure we continue those relationships.

"There are certain things that we are thinking of improving over the next few months, but I want to have a long, hard look at how things are run here and see what support I can provide."

Insp Rickwood said "citizen focus" was the buzz phrase at the moment and emphasised that he wanted to work with the community, the councils and parish councils.

In the meantime, settling into his new role was "going fine", he said, and he was enjoying the new challenges.

Insp Rickwood came to the job from the position of staff officer in Winchester. It was a desk job he had done for four years and he was looking forward to being back out on the street, he said.

He added that he hoped his skill and experience in dealing with complaints from the public would help him in his new position.

Insp Rickwood attended Eggars School in Alton and still has many contacts in the area, which he said he planned to develop and build on now.

The busy festive period was a tough time to start a new job, but the new inspector can't expect much relief over the next few months. Forthcoming changes in the structure of the police force mean there are many adjustments ahead, but Insp Rickwood was eager to reassure the public that these would not impact negatively on community policing.

"They should see an improved service to the customer. We like to think that there's not going to be a lot of change," he said.

A hot media topic of late has been the extension of pub licensing hours and a possible knock-on effect on anti-social behaviour. Insp Rickwood said he had seen no evidence of any increase in behavioural problems since the new licensing laws came into force. Even the "beat bobbies" were not reporting any increase in incidents, he said.