A TOP Liberal Democrat MP has called for more visible policing in York.

Home Affairs spokesman Nick Clegg visited Acomb to meet residents and help collect signatures for the Lib Dem councillors' petition calling for the re-opening of the local police station.

He said: "I wanted to see the work being done by the council here, in co-operation with the police, to boost visible policing, make people feel safer and impact on crime figures - which are going in the right direction."

The Press reported on Thursday how crime in York and Selby dropped by 8.1 per cent in the last 12 months.

He said: "We need to find different, innovative ways of making policing as visible as possible, because that is the best way to reassure people that they are being looked after."

He praised York for introducing "police desks" to public places like libraries because local police stations in Acomb and Clifton have been closed.

He said: "While the campaign to keep local police stations open, or to reopen them, is commendable, the focus now has to be on ways we can make police accessible to local people as soon as possible."

He said neighbourhood policing teams of officers and PCSOs based in an area were one way of providing a police presence without the need for a local police station.

"The problem is not necessarily solved by opening a police station because there is the danger that police spend too much time in them because the paper work they have to do is astronomical," he said.

"The emphasis is on having police officers mobile and out in the communities. I think that makes a huge difference, and you have to cut paperwork in order to make sure police are as visible as possible."

The Press reported last September how Acomb residents had launched a campaign to have the police station reopened after a spate of crime in the area.

The building, which was once a fully-functioning police station with a front counter, has been used as a training centre and "drop-in" base for officers on foot patrol since 2003.

Last month York's Liberal Democrats launched a campaign calling for more local police stations.

Petition forms have been delivered to 60,000 homes and more than 2,500 York residents have already signed them.