A few weeks ago I asked residents across Farnham, Bordon, Haslemere, Liphook and our villages to tell me honestly how safe they feel and what they want done about it.

The response was striking – not because people are panicking, but because so many of you are saying the same thing in different ways: people feel they rarely see a police officer any more, and when something does go wrong, you're not confident anyone will come.

Nearly everyone who responded to my survey wants more police officers on our streets.

A clear majority backed tougher use of stop and search, immediate justice for lower-level offences like shoplifting, and scrapping so-called non-crime hate incidents so officers can focus on catching real criminals instead of policing opinions.

Time and again people pointed to the same local frustrations: a lack of visible presence, shoplifting that seems to go unchallenged on our high streets, and people tearing round on illegal e-bikes with nothing done about it – just to name a few.

Almost everyone who took part is deeply concerned that offenders are being released too quickly or handed soft community sentences that don't deter anyone.

The overwhelming majority want judges and the sentencing system to get tougher on repeat offenders.But these frustrations are a real reflection of what's happening nationally under Labour.

Only 8.5 percent of crimes are now solved, police officer numbers have fallen by nearly 6,500 since Labour took office, and Andy Burnham's government is still releasing domestic abusers, grooming gang perpetrators and killers early from prison – even after being forced into a partial U-turn on rapists.

This is exactly why I back the Conservatives' plan to Take Back Our Streets: 10,000 extra police officers and intensive hotspot patrolling of the areas where crime is concentrated – a quarter of all crime happens in just 5 percent of neighbourhoods, a pattern that will be familiar to anyone who's raised concerns with me about specific streets and car parks locally.

It means tripling stop and search to get knives and drugs off our streets, scrapping non-crime hate incidents for good, cutting the bureaucracy keeping good officers at a desk instead of solving crimes, and building the prison capacity we need so dangerous offenders serve the sentences they're given.

Despite Labour faltering nationally, the Conservatives have continued to make progress locally, with extra officers and hotspot patrols in Surrey’s town centres and the return of the local bobby in Hampshire.

These are welcome steps, but they can only go so far. This is an issue that needs national attention – and the funding and political will to match.

I'll keep pushing this Government for a return to proper, visible policing – because a community that doesn't see its police can't trust them, and our part of Surrey and Hampshire feeling safe shouldn't be too much to ask.