FIGHTING online sexual abuse and fraud is diverting police officers away from pounding the beat on the streets of Gwent, the area’s watchdog has said.

Jane Mudd, who is the directly elected Police and Crime Commissioner responsible for overseeing the performance of Gwent Police, said the chief constable has a difficult “balancing act” between visibility of officers on the street while also protecting the public from offences committed over the internet.

She was responding to a question on whether Monmouthshire gets a “fair share” of resources allocated by Gwent Police with its residents having described as paying a greater percentage of the local policing budget than their neighbours in the other four local authority areas.

Chepstow Labour councillor Dale Rooke questioned Ms Mudd, who along with being the police commissioner is also an elected Labour councillor in Newport, when she appeared before Monmouthshire County Council’s public services committee.

He asked: “We pay in the range of 25 per cent more than any other county. Can you be confident we get a fair share, a slice of the cake, in resources because we don’t see any difference on the ground.”

Cllr Rooke also highlighted Gwent Police had, in October 2022, said it would recruit 100 more police officers and asked what proportion of those would be “directed to Monmouthshire.”

Ms Mudd said she would ask Chief Constable Mark Hobrough to write to the committee with the answer on recruitment was assured he was committed to neighbourhood policing adding there was a balancing act between increased visibility and protecting society from those other harms that have become more prevalent in modern times.

She cited fraud and said officers work “everyday” on protecting the public from sex offences and monitoring obscene images.

On the police precept, which is added to council tax bills, Ms Mudd said the figure is related to the council tax base across Gwent.