A parish council has told a top police officer that more needs to be done to let elderly people know of changes in the way the force responds to crime.

Airedale and Bradford North divisional commander Chief Supt Allan Doherty attended Steeton-with-Eastburn Parish Council.

He responded to complaints from Cllr Gladys Emmott that when she had her 4x4 car stolen, a police officer did not visit the site of the theft.

She said: "I rang Keighley police and nobody came here, nobody gives a damn."

But Chief Supt Doherty said: "That's not true that nobody gives a damn because I give a damn but please tell me, if the car has gone, what is the purpose of coming? If someone came to see where the car was there is not a lot of value in that.

"If we come out when there is no need then we are wasting public money. What I am trying to get across is that the public has expected this fire brigade style policing, where the public give a call and the police visit, but there has been a change in how we deal with it.

"In certain crimes people need to come out but in other crimes there is absolutely no need. When I had my house burgled people needed to take fingerprints and forensic evidence, but if the car is gone there is no opportunity to do that."

But Cllr David Mullen said that the police force needed to get that information out into the public arena.

He said: "Around here there are a lot of elderly people and they need to know it is going to change because they are used to a policeman calling at their door.

"You need to tell them you are doing something but that you are not going to go up and see them."

Chief Supt Doherty agreed with him and admitted: "We are not as good as we should be at keeping people up to date on their crime."

He said that a new call management system meant that an officer from the neighbourhood policing team would keep victims of crime up to date on the progress of investigations.

Cllr John Hargreaves also raised the need for more police officers to be seen walking around Steeton and Eastburn.

He said: "I have always said here that we are not getting the police presence we need in this area. There are a lot of elderly people live in this area and they are frightened to go out because they never see a policeman."

Chief Supt Doherty responded by telling the council that there were five police officers dedicated to the area and they would not be called elsewhere unless there was an emergency.