CRIME fighting has stepped into the 21st Century, with Kingsbridge police operating on Facebook.

The social networking page was set up at the beginning of December and already has more than 770 'likes' – indicating a large measure of support from the public for the new initiative.

Kingsbridge police are using the site to post information and warnings to the public, as well as posting photos of people of interest in a bid to help identify potential criminals.

'We have launched ourselves into the 21st Century,' said Sgt Dave Green. 'We fully acknowledge the power of Facebook and would be foolish to not use it for good purposes, especially when you look at the number of people who use it locally as a regular form of communication.

'It is very useful for instant updates, and instant publicity. We are enlisting the public as our eyes and ears.

For the full story see this week's Kingsbridge and Salcombe Gazette