POLICE say this is the last year they will financially support the Fenland District Council CrmeBUSter initiative.

Mick Gipp, Safer Fenland Manager, told the council’s overview and scrutiny performance panel that Cambridgeshire County Council is also to withdraw its support.

Mr Gipp told the committee that CrimeBUSter – which over the past year has made 76 trips out and logged 300 requests for various services- costs �38,000 a year to run.

The money is spent on employing a co-ordinator, fuel, running costs and material held on board the bus.

Mr Gipp said the only assurance he could offer councillors was that it would be secure for this year.

He said only Fenland Council and Roddons Housing Association were “staying on board” and the long term future of CrimeBUSter was yet to be finalised.

Mr Gipp was asked if the service could be shared with any similar service such as a mobile library and he said this was something that could be looked at in the future.

Among many uses of the CrimeBUSter has been deployment as a central information point at major emergencies such as last year’s spate of fires in Wisbech and at the scene of two murders.

It also attends key community events and is available to respond at short notice to particular problems, such as the vandalism at Mount Pleasant cemetery in Wisbech.

Councillor Ken Mayor, FDC’s portfolio holder responsible for stronger and safer communities and chairman of the Safer Fenland Partnership, said: “All the partners see the CrimeBUSter as a vital way of getting out and meeting people all over the district.

CrimeBUSter will be visiting Murrow on March 30. It will be in the village from 8.30am-12.30pm.