Humberside Police chief hopeful progress will continue

Under Mr Freeman's leadership, the force has gone from being in special measures to receiving a grade of outstanding

Humberside Police has significantly improved, but people still want to see more bobbies on the beat, the force's outgoing chief constable has said.

Lee Freeman has been in the role since 2017 and will leave to take up a new job at the end of July.

Under his leadership, the force has gone from being in special measures to receiving an outstanding grade.

Despite the success, Mr Freeman said there was still work to be done by his successor.

In an interview with BBC Look North, Mr Freeman said: "We've got 750 more police officers than I started with and we have returned local policing to bases right across the Humberside region."

He said the force now had "13 bases with 24/7 staff compared to six [bases] when I started", but added: "I think visibly people want to see more of the police."

On the subject of allocating resources to deal with anti-social behaviour, Mr Freeman said the force took it "every bit as seriously as we do other crimes".

However, with 18.500 incidents a month, he said "we cannot treat every single crime and incident in the way you would expect".

'Strength to strength'

Mr Freeman likened the situation to a duvet that does not cover the whole bed.

"When you pull it up, your feet are sticking out," he said.

He also stated the importance of getting back the public's trust in policing in the wake of high-profile local and national cases involving serving police officers.

However, Mr Freeman, who has been a police officer for 30 years, said he was "confident that the team I leave behind will continue to listen to our communities and ensure that the force goes from strength to strength".

The former Lincolnshire Police officer has been appointed as His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services by the home secretary.