POLISH police officers visited Worcestershire to find out how their UK counterparts were tackling alcohol-related crime among young people.

Five senior officers from Warsaw and Minsk spent last week with officers from West Mercia's safety and justice department to discuss how community schemes have helped to reduce crime.

The officers also visited Top Barn Training at Top Barn Farm, near Worcester, which provides training, education and therapeutic opportunities to members of the community, including young people having problems at school.

Chief constable Paul West said: "The police officers from Poland were keen to find out about different ways of combating alcohol-related crime among young people and wanted to see how projects, set up to tackle this problem, work on a day-to-day basis.

"West Mercia has worked hard to develop initiatives to tackle this issue, which left unchecked can cause distress and unhappiness for communities, so we were more than happy to share our experiences with them."

West Mercia is officially recognised by both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and by the Polish Government, as the lead force in the UK for developing links with the Polish police.