A former Norwich City Council leader's bid to become Norfolk's first police and crime commissioner was given a boost by the visit of a shadow minister to the city today.

Chris Bryant, Labour's Shadow Home Office Minister, was in Norwich where he joined Steve Morphew on the campaign trail.

Mr Bryant said: 'The Tory-led Government are cutting thousands of frontline police officers across the country. They are making it harder for the police to use CCTV to prevent and solve crime, and are scrapping ASBOs.

'And we all now know what the Tories really think of the police – they will defend Cabinet Ministers who swear at police officers and call them 'plebs'.

'This is no way to fight crime and no way to work with the police. The Tories simply don't get it. They brought us the millionaires' tax cut while cutting 15,000 police officers.

'Labour is different. Our one nation approach is about delivering policies that match our values of fairness and decency, rooted in evidence of what works. Tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. These elections are your chance to send a message to the Tory-led Government.'

Mr Morphew, who met with members of the public in the Hay Hill area of Norwich, said: 'If elected I will keep police on the beat, not hand over patrolling our streets to private companies, back a strong and swift response to antisocial behaviour and be tough on crime, and tough on the causes of crime.'