Hundreds of volunteer police constables tried to stamp out anti-social behaviour as part of a police operation to make Hertfordshire safer.

In St Albans, last Friday, Saturday night and Sunday, officers supported intervention teams with emergency response policing and Safer Neighbourhood Teams with proactive patrols. Officers also carried out high visibility patrols around the city's pubs and clubs to ensure revellers stayed safe and were drinking sensibly.

The event was part of National Specials Weekend, the promote the work Special Constables do.

David Lloyd, Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire, said: “This weekend is a great opportunity to celebrate our Specials. Hertfordshire Constabulary benefits enormously from the vital skills and life experiences that Special Constables bring to our policing operation.

“Communities and employers also gain from the fantastic training Specials receive and the extra transferable skills they can use in their everyday lives.

"I want to see more businesses playing their part in supporting employees to become Special Constables through the Employer Supported Policing (ESP) scheme.”

Hertfordshire’s Special Constabulary chief officer Mark Kendrew, said: “I was delighted to be out and about this weekend alongside my fellow Special Constables to mark this important event in our calendar.

“I am particularly proud that our volunteer police officers were also on hand to ably assist their regular officer colleagues providing reassurance to local communities.

“The idea of the National Specials’ Weekend is to get as many of the UK’s nearly 15,000 Specials as possible to perform a duty over the weekend.

“Hertfordshire’s 262 strong team last year completed more than 65,000 duty hours for the force. The support provided by our Special Constables and Rural Special Constables is helping to combat crime and keep Hertfordshire even safer.”

Over the last 12 months Hertfordshire’s Special Constables have also:

• Made over 320 arrests and assisted in 585

• Dealt with 82 road traffic collisions

• Made 133 drug seizures

• Conducted 142 breath tests

• Undertaken 290 stop and searches

• Seized 118 vehicles

• Executed 149 warrants