Two 'Blunkett's bobbies' hide in room when confronted by aggressive 13-year-old - then call the REAL police for help

The Blunkett's bobbies shut themselves away until real police officers arrived to rescue them and deal with the youngster.

They were making a routine visit to a children's centre when the boy started arguing with a member of staff.

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Instead of stepping in to assist, they retreated to a separate room and phoned for help.

Last night, MPs said the incident in Plymouth highlighted the "limited value" of community support officers – who were nicknamed "plastic police" after they were introduced in 2002 by the then Home Secretary David Blunkett.

The incident happened at the Centre for Individual Tuition, a pupil-referral centre providing education for children who do not attend school, usually for behavioural reasons.

The boy, who was on a placement at the centre, became agitated following a disagreement with a member of staff.

He became more aggressive when the two part-time officers arrived on an unrelated visit.

After the support officers called for help, four full police officers were dispatched to the centre.

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They arrested the youth, but released him back into the care of one of his parents after 45 minutes.

The Tory MP for Torridge and West Devon, Geoffrey Cox, said community support officers "cannot fill the shoes of a policeman".

He added: "A police officer has the powers and confidence to deal with these type of incidents.

"The Government expects PCSOs to act like police officers. But they will always be of extremely limited value in dealing with even run-of-the- mill incidents like this.

"They are there for high-visibility public reassurance. What we need is more policemen on the beat."

Sharon Taylor, assistant chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, insisted the officers "did the right thing" because they are not trained to deal with violent confrontations.

"They were called there for a completely unrelated matter but when they arrived this juvenile became aggressive towards them," she said.

"Personal safety was their primary concern. We don't intentionally put them into situations to deal with violent confrontations because they are not trained to deal with them."

Community support officers are allowed to issue on-the-spot fines for littering, cycling on footpaths and criminal damage but are only able to detain a suspect for up to 30 minutes.

Critics likened their introduction to having "police on the cheap". Last year, two such officers stood by while a boy of ten drowned in a pond in Greater Manchester.

Bystanders had attempted to rescue the child but the officers had been ordered not to because they did not have the right training.