202 complaints against police in the past year

That's the view of East Londonderry MLA Adrian McQuillan

The DUP man's comments come as a report reveals that there were over 200 complaints about Coleraine police in the past year.

The figures were released to Mr McQuillan by Police Ombudsman, Al Hutchinson.

In the Province complaints against the police increased by 14 percent, the highest in eight years.

In Coleraine, 202 complaints were recorded between April 2009 and March 2010.

49 percent of the allegations were of some form of 'Failure in Duty', 24 percent were for 'Oppressive Behaviour' and 10 percent were of 'Incivility'. 39 percent of the alleged incidents took place in the Police Station.

Commenting on the figures, McQuillan said: "These figures may be shocking to some people, but they don't really surprise me.

"I have received an alarming number of complaints in the past few months in relation to incidents in the rural community.

"These complaints lead me to believe that people in the rural areas of the borough have very little confidence in the police.

"Rural residents tell me that they rarely see an officer on duty in their areas."

Mr McQuillan claims that there are only four officers to cover the Garvagh area, which includes Kilrea and Aghadowey.

"I know of people who have had their homes or businesses burgled, and they have been offered an appointment for the police to visit the scene some three days later. This has resulted in people being reluctant to report crimes, as they believe that nothing can be done.

"Matt Baggot has been Chief Constable for a year now. He promised when he took over, that we would have more police on our streets, this may be the case in larger towns, but our rural towns and villages are being left out.

"I know that people in the rural areas of the borough feel isolated and vulnerable, and I would call for the police to step up their patrols to restore public confidence in the PSNI."

The Times asked the police for a comment but at the time of going to press had received no reply.

SCATHING...DUP Assemblyman Adrian McQuillan