A veteran cop returning to his old haunt alongside a rookie with just 18 months experience could be the blurb for the latest police drama – instead its describes New Addington’s latest bobbies on the beat.

Police constables Alex Smith and Lucy Butler have been hired as part of an agreement between Croydon Council and the Metropolitan Police, to patrol Fieldway and Addington.

Croydon Council is paying for one officer, with the police matchfunding at a cost of £65,000 per PC for the first financial year, rising to £66,000 next year and then £67,000 the following year.

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PC Smith started his policing career in New Addington 20 years ago and said he will become a familiar face to people as he rides through the area on his bike.

He said: “It’s good that two officers will be dedicated to Fieldway and Addington pretty much all the time.

“It’s good to be able to come back to where I started and make a difference to the community.”

With just 18 months’ experience, PC Butler was given the option of working on the response team answering 999 calls, but opted to be out on the beat.

She said: “It will be good to look after the estate and tackle the antisocial behaviour and build relationships with the people that we work with and help them with other problems that they have.

“We can focus on the Central Parade area and show our presence around the shops and the areas that we need to be covering.”

Your Local Guardian:

PCs Alex Smith and Lucy Butler with Mark Watson (cabinet member for safety and justice), council leader Tony Newman and Hamida Ali (deputy cabinet member for safety and justice)

The officers will rarely work the same shifts, with one of them working nights and the other on days.

Figures from the Met Police suggest they will be busy. In January there were 82 reported crimes in Fieldway and 78 in New Addington.

Introducing the extra officers was a key pledge in Labour’s manifesto before last year’s local election.