WE’RE going to make your lives miserable – that’s the message to criminals from the man now in charge of policing across the Great Yarmouth area.

Supt Nick Davison replaces Jim Smerdon who retired last week, as district commander, after a two-and- a-half-year stint in a similar role at King’s Lynn.

And just a few days into his new job, the 42-year-old put out a warning to those who think they can begin to relax with the hand-over of power.

“The directions to my staff are to make your lives miserable,” he said, “and to do all I can do with the powers I have available to me to catch and disrupt your criminal activities.”

Brought up in North Norfolk, Supt Davison joined the South Yorkshire police at the age of 24 because he “wanted to make a positive contribution to the community”.

And it was in 1996 that he transferred back to his home county where, after time overseeing operations across Norwich, he took over at King’s Lynn before coming to Yarmouth.

Quick to praise the achievements of his successor, who had been in the role of district commander for two years, he added that much of his work would be based on “continuation” of Mr Smerdon’s efforts and priorities.

“We’re set to continue with the relentless pressure against those causing crimes and anti-social behaviour that affect the quality of the lives of the public the most.”

Among this category were crimes such as burglary, vehicle crime, assaults and arson.

In King’s Lynn, Supt Davison said that under his watch there had been a focus on working alongside other important local agencies, such as the council, and engaging with the community.

Talking of how he would manage the officers under his control, he spoke of ensuring his officers had “individual responsibility and accountability” for the beats that they patrolled in.

Last month, Norfolk police missed out on �6.4m from central government – a blow for an organisation looking to plug a �25m four-year funding gap.

However, Supt Davison sought to reassure those worried by the prospect of policing cuts that “we’ve worked extremely hard to make sure that the level of policing that people are receiving and the front-line policing is impacted as little as possible.”

He went on to add: “Great Yarmouth is a fantastic district and town with some real energy about it.

“We want to make sure people are proud to live here, and people want to visit here and feel safe while doing so, enjoying all Yarmouth has to offer.”