Avon and Somerset police have welcomed two new police community support officers who will be helping in the fight against crime.

Dan Bonnici, 24, and Rob Hendra, 42, have joined the team at Radstock Police Station bringing with them more than just dedication to the job and a sense of social justice.

Both have strong religious beliefs. Mr Hendra, who will be covering the Radstock beat, has been a committed Christian all his life while Mr Bonnici converted to Islam five years ago.

Mr Bonnici, who covers Timsbury, High Littleton, Farrington Gurney and surrounding villages, said: "Actually it is thanks to my faith I have the job as a PCSO. Joining the police was not something I had thought of until I was encouraged to apply to become a PCSO by a former police inspector I met while at the mosque.

"He said I had the skills and enthusiasm needed for the job. I took what he said on board and realised that it would be something I would like to try and immediately sent off an application. So far it has been great and I have really enjoyed meeting people within the community."

Mr Hendra, who has already spent time working as a PCSO in Filton, Bristol, said the key to being good at the job is looking for solutions to problems by thinking outside of the box.

He said: "An example of this is when I was working at the other station we had an incident when sub-continental workers who had been brought in to work on a new project at Orange were being verbally abused by a number of youths.

"What I did was set up a cricket match which helped build up the trust and understanding and in turn made the area safer for everyone."

Both PCSOs have encouraged people to get in touch if they have issues in the area where they live.

Mr Hendra added: "If you see us on foot patrol, stop us in the street and have a chat about any issues that are affecting you or your neighbourhood.

"We are friendly, approachable and most of all here to help. If we cannot help directly with an issue we can pass on concerns to colleagues and we can also give people crime prevention advice to help stop them becoming victims of crime."