#onthebeat

#onthebeat

Strong winds on a beach in Somerset creates an strange sweeping sand.

Maria Merry bought the Agusta 109 for £950 during a visit to a museum in Weston-super-Mare.

Aged just 17 at the time, Sophie Elms is one of the youngest females in the UK to commit the crimes.

Often being an officer on the beat isn't about catching criminals, but trying to save lives.

Here Sgt Lee Kerslake and PC Nick Falconer are called to an emergency.

A man has collapsed outside a supermarket in Weston-super-Mare.

Our Home Affairs correspondent Charlotte Callen has been out with neighbourhood teams as part of our On the Beat series.

Sgt Lee Kerslake, whose beat covers Weston-super-Mare town centre, says the use of new data analytics is helping day to day policing.

Each officer is equipped with a laptop, mobile phone and a body-worn video camera.

It costs around £1,975 to equip a patrol officer- this figure includes uniform, personal protective equipment, and technological devices.

"The new data system has made a huge difference to my work," he said.

"The amount of information you get, without having to rely on other people and going back to the station you can use preparing for the next job.

"Because you've got the context, it helps you make better decisions at the scene- you get a fuller picture."

Newly appointed cabinet member Kye Dudd says it is vital to "get things right" for Bristol.

Drug gangs are moving in and taking over the homes of vulnerable people across the west to sell drugs, according to police.

Cuckooing, as it is known, is on the increase with urban dealers targeting small, rural and coastal towns where there is little or no competition.

Here is a clip from the body-worn camera of a beat officer in Weston-super-Mare as they raid a house.

They recover knives and apprehend a 17-year-old potential victim of cuckooing.

Image source, WWT Slimbridge

Endangered white-clawed crayfish have been bred at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT) at Slimbridge.

The creatures, similar to lobsters, are endangered in the UK due to the introduction of the invasive signal crayfish, which carries a disease that effects the native species.

They are also threatened by water pollution and loss of natural habitat.

A female from Bristol Zoo arrived at Slimbridge in 2017 and her eggs hatched last June.

WWT staff say eight youngsters have survived and are now 3cm long, and they are hoping to breed more.

Police are warning of an epidemic of knife crime in towns across Somerset - due to county lines drug dealing.

That's where criminals from major cities expand their drug networks to other areas of the country.

Drug gangs move in and take over the homes of vulnerable people across the west to sell drugs.

Cuckooing, as it is known, is on the increase with urban dealers targeting small, small, rural and coastal towns where there is little or no competition.

Weston-super-Mare is one place where that's happening.

Our Home Affairs correspondent Charlotte Callen has been out on the beat with neighbourhood officers in the town.

Crimes recorded - 24

Burglary - 2

Custody records - 85

Missing people 10

Domestic abuse cases - 7

The force received 828 999 (emergency) calls, and 1,423 101 (non-emergency) calls, the busiest day since our #onthebeat feature started.

A 28-year-old woman has died after a car crash on the A36 near Warminster.

Wiltshire Police said it happened shortly after 9pm on Sunday between the Heytesbury and Crockerton roundabouts.

A white VW Touran and a blue Kia Picanto were involved in a head-on collision.

The woman driving the Kia, who was from the Warminster area, died at the scene.

The driver of the other vehicle, a man in his 40s, was taken to Salisbury District Hospital with what is believed to be minor injuries.

The road was closed for about seven hours while police carried out an investigation.

A man and woman have been arrested after a young child was injured in Tidworth, Wiltshire.

The child was taken to Salisbury District Hospital on Wednesday and is now in a stable condition.

The arrested pair, both aged 36, were arrested on suspicion of GBH and have been released on bail.

In 2017 Avon and Somerset Police's chief declared the force to be at 'tipping point'after years of budget cuts.

In a report, externalsent to police and fire minister Nick Hurd, Chief Constable Andy Marsh and PCC Sue Mountstevens said the force had had to make £65m worth of cuts since 2010. That figure now stands at £78m.

That meant 655 fewer police officers - and a further £17m to find by 2021/22, resulting in "perilous times" for policing in Avon and Somerset.

We'll bring you behind the scenes footage of what it's like to be out on the beat in the Avon and Somerset force area.

Avon and Somerset Chief Constable Andy Marsh talks to BBC correspondent Charlotte Callen about mental health issues and caring in policing.

He says the "thing that characterises policing is that we care".

As a prevention officer for child sexual and criminal exploitation at the Avon and Somerset Police, it is Androulla (Andri) Nicolaou's job to highlight the issue of children being exploited.

A large part of this is information, understanding and communication. She points out that people must be aware that it is not only girls who are at risk and it is not only men that target them.

"Boys have been exploited as well ... and female offenders exploit children and unfortunately children do it to other children too."

That is why it is important to talk to boys too and ask the question, "are you being sexually exploited?"

Leighton Deburca who set up Nitewatch, says "Sharing intelligence is what makes tackling a huge issue like child sexual exploitation possible. It's a complicated thing to grasp."

"It's inter-generational but it's also about older kids who are also exploiting younger kids and putting them into gangs and it's always about the power exchanges - it could be someone only a few years older that has groomed that child in a sexual nature or dealing drugs.

"It's important that schools, teachers and the night-time associations and everybody in the police work together to combat that.