UNIFORMED wardens will take to the streets in ten villages across Kent from next Tuesday as the first recruits to a civilian crime-fighting force aimed at curbing rural crime.

The initiative is part of a wider ground-breaking partnership between the county council and Kent Police which will see the two joining forces to make rural communities safer.

The first ten wardens will operate in Charing, near Ashford, Darenth, near Dartford, Eastry, Higham, near Gravesend, Staplehurst, near Maidstone, West Kingsdown, Elham, near Folkestone, Minster (Sheppey), Minster (Thanet) and Hawkhurst.

The community wardens, who are all full-time paid county council employees, will go on patrol as part of a pilot scheme which was officially launched this week. If the experiment is successful, it is understood KCC will press ahead to build up a 100-strong civilian force over the next four years.

While the wardens will not themselves tackle incidents of crime and do not have any formal police powers of arrest, they will work closely with rural police officers, existing Neighbourhood Watch schemes and local businesses.

KCC is to plough £1.1m into what has been called the Rural Partnership Scheme. The money will pay for the wardens, along with an extra 12 rural parish liaison officers and 12 police patrol cars, which will carry the KCC badge.

For its part, Kent Police’s contribution of £1.7m to the scheme will pay for 50 rural police officers and 24 patrol cars. Although not all of the 50 will be new officers, many will be.

KCC has identified tackling the fear of crime in many rural areas as a key priority and believes the wardens will help make residents more secure by providing a visible presence.

Conservative county council leader Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said last year: “Our partnership, the first of its kind in England, takes a firm step forward in fighting crime at a community level.”

Labour opposition leader Cllr Mike Eddy said he supported the principle of the scheme but had reservations about the way it was being implemented. "We would much prefer to see real policemen and women on the beat but do appreciate they need support.”

Last year, the Kent Police Federation came down strongly against the idea of civilian wardens, saying it was unworkable and ill-conceived.