HOOLIGANS are turning Upton into Dodge City after the pubs close and the criminal can be well on his way home before a police officer arrives, according to Upton's Betty Williams.

Mrs Williams, who retired this year after 21 years in local government, made the comments in a letter to Home Secretary Jack Straw, protesting at the new policing arrangements for the town.

She asked Mr Straw for guidance on what policing the Upton should expect, saying that local people did not agree that the present arrangements were efficient.

Crimes such as shoplifting and abusive language were going unreported and distorting the crime statistics, she said.

"Is it really too much to ask that we retain just one beat officer on the streets?" she asked Mr Straw.

Mrs Williams said she wrote the letter when she was feeling very angry after last month's public meeting with the police in Upton.

"Nearly 100 people attended that meeting and we were talked down to by the police" she said.

"We were as good as told 'This is what you are getting, so don't argue about it.'

"I felt I was reflecting the feeling of the townspeople. They are just so upset about it."

The letter was greeted with murmurs of "Well done, Betty!" when a copy was read to Upton Town Council by the mayor, Coun Ernie Holder, on Tuesday (July 18).