The home secretary will today herald a return to "bobby on the beat" policing saying every citizen should know the name of their local officer.

David Blunkett will use the keynote speech to the annual conference of the Police Superintendents' Association of England and Wales to make the case for a return to community based policing.

Blunkett will call on middle-ranking officers to embrace the changes which a source described as "unfinished business that Michael Howard was afraid to deal with as home secretary".

Writing in the Mirror, he condemns police for making some distraught crime victims feel they are a "nuisance".