A VILLAGE is set to pay out more than £25,000 to keep it safe from criminals.

Tiptree Parish Council has finally reached an agreement to have its own special police officers patrolling the streets, following two years of talks with Essex Police.

It means it will be paying around £6,000 a year for the expenses of four specials, who will be based in the village.

The council has also reached an agreement with a new security firm to patrol its amenities over the next 12 months after they put the contract out to tender.

Steve Bays, chairman of Tiptree Parish Council, said: “The specials will be based in the village and the agreement we have come to is we will be paying for their expenses.

“The grey area is if there’s an emergency they can be called away.

“But they will give us time sheets and attendance sheets so we can see how it’s going.”

Mr Bays added: “This has taken quite a long time to come about.

“We have been in talks for about two years as we have been trying to sort out a solution.

“Essex Police wanted us to pay for their training but then they couldn’t guarantee they would stay.

“So, if someone left within six months we would end up paying for retraining.”

The four specials will each spend 16 hours a month in Tiptree.

Their time spent in the village will be staggered, with different times each week so their movements cannot be predicted.

Tiptree Parish Council hired extra security to look after the village in 2016 after police budget cuts saw officers patrolling the town scrapped.

Mr Bays said the initiative has been a success with anti-social behaviour being reduced.

The new contract will see residents paying £20,000 a year for the firm.