Mat Helm started his new job last week, and said he was ‘excited’ to get stuck in.

A police officer with more than 13 years’ experience has taken up the neighbourhood team leader role for Honiton and Axminster.

Mat Helm started his new job last week, and said he was ‘excited’ to get stuck in.

Mr Helm, who first started as a special constable in Plymouth in 2000, has held down a variety of positions in the force, most recently being a patrol sergeant for Exeter - a role he carried out for the last three years.

Speaking to the Herald, Mr Helm said: “I am excited to take up the new role.

“I wanted to do this because I have done neighbourhood policing in Exmouth and I really enjoyed it before I got promoted.

“I wanted to come back to doing that as a sergeant.

“It’s a role that is very rewarding and satisfying and you get into the community a lot more than response policing does.

“For me, policing is about helping people and seeing how you can make lives better for everybody.”

Mr Helm said that he was looking forward to working with a ‘really good team of police officers and PCSOs’.

“My role is to support the action they take in the community and help them,” he added.

Outside of work, Mr Helm is a coastguard rescue officer with HM Coastguard at Exmouth, which involves cliff, mud and water rescue as well as searching for lost or despondent persons.

For more about the whole Honiton and Axminster policing team, visit www.devon-cornwall.police.uk