POLICE in South Worcestershire will be holding their first-ever online community meeting for residents of the Malvern area next week.

The webchat will take place between 6pm and 8pm on Wednesday March 19, and can be found at www.westmercia.police.uk/webchat/.

Inspector Steph Brighton and sergeant Ian Blanchard as well as constables and community support officers from the safer neighbourhood team will be on line to talk about how the town is policed and field questions from members of the public.

PC Dave Wise, the Pickersleigh safer neighbourhood officer, said: "We are always looking for new and better ways to expand and develop our community engagement methods and to hear from local people.

"We're really excited to be building our online presence and believe that police visibility online will be an important tool in maintaining confidence and communicating quickly and efficiently with the public.

"If the meeting is popular we would like to make this a regular event and could use the online format to provide information in the event of major incidents, on specific crime trends or more locally for partner agency projects.

"We'll be welcoming any questions and comment from those with an interest in policing in the Malvern Hills area. "