Saundersfoot has access to "one of the most modern and progressive police organisations in the country," Police Inspector Les Clark told members of the village's community council.

"Each of the three constables based in Saundersfoot is supported by a team of colleagues in Tenby and receives supervision and guidance from supervisors who are available 24 hours a day," he explained at their monthly meeting.

Specialist support is available at a moment's notice and includes traffic policing, CID to assist with serious crime, dog section officers, including specialist drugs dogs, air support officers operating the force helicopter, family protection officers to deal with child victims and victims of domestic violence, as well as computer crime experts dealing with such matters as paedophile offenders.

"To my knowledge, all of these officers and departments have been called upon to assist with incidents in the Saundersfoot area over the last six months," continued the officer.

"No constable works in isolation. He or she is always in contact with the main control room at Carmarthen, which is staffed by police officers and support staff who perform force-wide functions.

"In other words, the people of Saundersfoot not only buy into the employment of three police constables, they buy into a multi-million pound organisation, which is there to provide a service on a collective community basis."

So far this fiscal year, officers at Tenby and Saundersfoot have dealt with 3,422 incidents, ranging from serious acts of violence to assisting in the rescue of a cat. Out of that number, 792 were in the Saundersfoot area.

Between April 1 and September 30, Insp. Clark revealed that recorded crime had risen in the Saundersfoot area from 140 crimes in the same period last year to 198 this year, a rise of 41 per cent.

"Through the professionalism and hard work of my staff, the detection/clear up rate has reached 53 per cent, which is a reduction of two per cent over the same period last year," he said.

"So far this year, 37 assaults have been recorded in the Saundersfoot area. The great majority of these assaults (all but two or three) are linked to alcohol and represent pub/bar/club brawls. The average age of both victims and assailants is 24 years."

Eight common assaults have also been recorded.

"Most reports of assault are cleared up either by charging or cautioning the offender or as in many occasions the victim later declines to support a prosecution.

In addition, Insp. Clark revealed that four dwelling burglaries and 18 offences of autocrime had been recorded, while 24 people had been arrested for drugs offences.

Insp. Clark also addressed noise, skateboarding, underage drinking, inconsiderate parking problems and speeding on The Ridgeway, where over the last six years, 15 collisions had occurred.

Saundersfoot police station falls within the Tenby Section, which stretches from Manorbier in the south to Llandissilio in the north. Staff members within the section include one inspector, four sergeants, one of whom is based in Narberth, 24 constables, six in Narberth and three at Saundersfoot, one detective sergeant and two detective constables based at Tenby, one full-time traffic warden and four civilian volunteers.