A POLICEMAN has found an inventive way of using the internet to get through to youngsters on his beat.

PC Steve Joynes, from the neighbourhood policing team in Hockley, said he was struggling to engage with young people when he had a "lightbulb" moment.

He set up a page on the social networking site MySpace and now has more than 200 teenagers signed up as friends.

He said: "I worked on the logic of how do kids talk to each other?

"I had a real lightbulb moment when I realised the answer is through sites like MySpace, MSN and text messaging.

"Texting has evolved into a whole other type of language they use, with abbreviations, acronyms and symbols.

"It's a way of communicating, which the kids understand and respect."

PC Joynes set up the unofficial site about a year ago and it has been such a successful way of speaking with young people, other officers have expressed interest in setting up similar schemes across the county.

As well as using MySpace to give out information about meetings and local community initiatives, PC Joynes stays in e-mail contact with youngsters in the district.

He said: "My job is to engage with the local community and that includes teenagers.

"MySpace allows me to build a rapport with the kids. They respect it because it isn't lecturing them and it is done in a fun way."

At the moment the hot topic on PC Joynes' MySpace page is whether putting a teen shelter near Clements Hall Sports Centre is a good idea.

For details go to www.myspace.com/ hockley_police