A COMMUNITY-minded police support officer has been named the best in Ryedale.

PCSO Tracey Brown, who joined North Yorkshire Police in October 2006, received the most votes in a competition to find the best PCSO in the district, and will go forward to a competition to find the best in North Yorkshire.

Tracey, who lives in Hovingham with her husband David, and her children Adam, 17, and Amy, 15, previously worked as an optician’s receptionist.

She said receiving the award made her feel as though she had made a difference to her patch, which stretches from the top of Sutton Bank to the top of Wrelton Bank, covering Kirkbymoorside, Helmsley, Ampleforth, Hawnby and Oswaldkirk.

She said: “I joined the police force because I wanted a more challenging caree. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made – I really enjoy it.

“Every day is different; one day I might be patrolling, and the next day I will be helping out at a major road accident.

“It is rewarding to be there for people when they need it most.”

She says the communities she works in have been welcoming from the start, and that local people always give her lots of positive feedback.

She said: “I would like to thank the people who nominated me. It has made me feel very proud, and it has made me feel that what I’m doing is making a difference.”

At a meeting of the Kirkbymoorside Police and Community Group, Inspector Tim Hutchinson, of Malton Police, announced the nomination.

He said: “This nomination is very well deserved.

“The work that Tracey has been doing, both in Kirkbymoorside and Helmsley, is very valuable.

“Eight separate people or groups of people wrote in to nominate her, which is a wonderful reflection of the high esteem she is held in.

“She made my job, which was to select the winner, extremely easy.”