New shifts mean more police on Bognor streets

They will enable additional officers to be available between midnight and 4am, particularly at weekends. This number has the potential to be more than 25 for Bognor.

New Sussex Police shift patterns take effect from April 1.

The change is a result of the licensing law, which has seen pubs and clubs able to open later than the traditional closing time.

The current law, which came into effect in November 2005, has left the police's previous shift pattern behind.

The crimes which used to occur around midnight are now taking place a couple of hours later.

Inspector John Merrick said the old shift pattern meant relying on officers' goodwill to carry on working after their night hours officially ended at 3am.

There was also the need to pay overtime to enable enough men and women to be on the streets alongside those rostered to work when crimes were increasingly taking place.

The new shifts will take away those arrangements by enabling sufficient officers with shifts overlapping until 5am to be available.

In return for the variable shifts, they will have more days off each year than previously.

Insp Merrick said the pushing back of crimes by some hours was being seen in Sussex towns such as Bognor with a lively night-time economy.

But he said the longer licensing hours had not led to any upsurge in overall crime.