A NEW community coordinator has taken over the reins at Wiltshire Police.

Alex Trombetta, who is the first civilian to take on the role of community coordinator, will be taking over from PC Mark Hough when he retires at the end of February.

For the past two years, the keen football fan has worked within a specialist role at Surrey Police and has now relocated to Wiltshire.

“Wiltshire is a great county. I’m looking forward to taking on this really important role as the link between the local community and the local police force,” said the 27-year-old, who will cover Trowbridge and Bradford on Avon.

The community coordinator roles were introduced by Wiltshire Police last year as part of its new Community Policing Team models in a bid to improve engagement with the public.

PC Mark Hough, who has worked for Wiltshire Police for 26 years, said: “It’s been a pleasure to work for Wiltshire Police and I hope I have been able to help many people over the years overcome a variety of different tasks and challenges.

“I wish Alex all the best in the role – Trowbridge and Bradford-on-Avon are great towns with a real community spirit.”

Inspector James Brain said: “The role of the community coordinator is really important – the role has developed since the initial pilot and it is felt that it’s better suited to a civilian role as it is fairly office based.

“Nevertheless, it remains an integral role and I have no doubt that Alex will continue to build on the strong relationships we already have with our communities and partner agencies.”