Blunkett to rush in 25,000 support police

David Blunkett put fighting street crime at the heart of Labour's election battle today by rushing forward moves to hire 25,000 police support officers.

The Home Secretary was set to put a strong focus on making people feel safer in their own streets in his keynote speech.

The move to speed up recruitment of new community support officers - uniformed patrols who lack powers of arrest - emerged ahead of his speech.

They were due to be appointed over four years starting next April but the Home Office will spend ?50 million to allow hiring to start immediately. Labour pollsters see anti-social behaviour as a key concern among voters afraid to leave their homes at night.

CSOs have been dubbed "plastic policemen" by critics who say they are policing on the cheap.