A ward councillor and former volunteer police officer this weekend announced his interest to become the Labour candidate for the police commissioner election.

Former Special Constable with the Metropolitan Police serving in Greenwich and Charlton, Cllr Tris Osborne has also served on Medway Council for Luton and Wayfield for four years and is the opposition spokesman for policing and community safety.

He said: “Over the last couple of months I have spoken to a number of Kent Labour council group leaders and councillors from Dartford to Dover and they have made it clear they want an experienced Kent voice who has been on the front-line serving the community.

“I have on-the-ground experience of policing, and I believe it is important that the lessons are learnt from the last four years. We need less PR gaffes and more PCs on the streets helping to combat crime and anti-social behaviour.

"We need a commissioner who won’t just accept Conservative cuts to police budgets that have seen 500 fewer front line Police officers since 2010.

"We need a commissioner who can reach out to faith communities and minorities to engage them in making our police a more diverse and forward-looking force.

“I am also announcing an initiative that will seek to pro-actively engage councils across Kent to support front-line staff - such as traffic wardens and community ward officers - to seek additional professional development as special constables.

If we have individuals on the streets at present it is surely worth using this human resource to make our communities a safer place to live and work.”

While Cllr Osborne has just announced his interest in the role currently occupied by Ann Barnes, the Conservatives put out their shortlist, from which a candidate will be selected, earlier this month.

They are Gavin McKinnon, from Tonbridge; Richard Bunting, from Ashford; Jo Gideon, from Thanet; and Matthew Scott, from Swanley.

The election will take place next year.