A LARGE-scale phone survey gathering opinions on behalf of Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson will start this weekend.

Around 2,000 householders across the Wiltshire Police area will be getting a call in the coming weeks.

A similar number of people were contacted between March and May this year.

Mr Macpherson said: “One of my top priorities is to secure high quality, efficient and trusted services.

“I use a range of methods to communicate with individuals and communities across Wiltshire and Swindon in order to gather their views about the service they receive from Wiltshire Police.

“The public opinion surveys provide me with important feedback from across the area about specific issues such as police visibility and effectiveness.

“The survey also explores issues such as quality of life and fear of crime.

“The information helps me to commission services from Wiltshire Police and helps senior police officers to understand the needs and priorities of the people they protect.

“I will share the information with Wiltshire Police because it will contain important insights into the levels of confidence that people have in the way their community is policed.

“However, I would like to stress that, if people wish to remain anonymous, no details that could identify them will be shared with the police.

“If you get a call in the coming weeks, please remember that your view counts.”

T/Assistant Chief Constable Kier Pritchard, who chairs the Public Service and Quality Board at Wiltshire Police, said: “This is a good opportunity for the people we serve to feed back to the Commissioner about the service they receive. I would really encourage residents to take part in this useful survey.”

The research is being conducted by a company called Information by Design and the questions should take about 15 minutes to answer.

If you receive a call and have any concerns about the validity of the caller, please call Wiltshire Police on 101.