A NEW area manager has been appointed to head a 30-strong team at West Mercia Probation Service.

Avril Gilmore will cover north Worcestershire, including Kidderminster, and will work with community safety partnerships, the local authority and police.

Her focus will be on how to spend Communities Against Drugs (CAD) money, which has been allocated by central government to community safety partnerships, over the next three years to tackle drugs related crime and disrupt local drugs markets.

"The focus is currently on multi-agency arrangements, including working closely with police and social services to address issues associated with managing the risk pose by the most serious offenders in our communities," she said.