THE Prime Minister and the Home Secretary were in the borough of Bexley on Tuesday to witness the impact of a new policing scheme.

Security was tight and warning of the visit was withheld until moments before their arrival.

PM Tony Blair and David Blunkett came to commend Bexley's ground-breaking Safer Neighbourhood Policing scheme.

They spent time talking to residents, key members of the community and police community support officers about the scheme and the impact it has had.

Arriving in a limousine flanked by police, Mr Blair and Mr Blunkett shook hands with rows of police officers before being ushered into Welling School, in Berwick Road.

Bexley's work with Community Safety Action Zones, which has seen designated teams of uniformed ward officers and community support officers assigned to an area, is acting as an example to the rest of the country.

This form of high visibility policing has proved successful in reducing crime and reducing the fear of crime in these areas.

Talking to residents and pupils of Welling School, Mr Blair said: "We are pleased to be here and to see how this is working in your area. The basic idea is to have the law abiding citizen taking back control of the community.

"We need the visible uniform presence and involvement from the community to make it work."

David Blunkett added: "What we have seen today demonstrates how absolute mayhem has been turned around by changing the whole focus to the law abiding citizen. We are putting respect back onto the streets."

They had been on a tour of nearby Falconwood to see for themselves the positive effects the policing scheme was having on the neighbourhood, talking to people in the community.