A group of teens from Corby's Exeter Estate travelled to Northamptonshire Police headquarters to help prepare PCSOs before they join safer community teams.

The trio delivered a training session designed to show the new officers how young people would prefer to be treated.

The session was the brainchild of charity Groundwork North Northamptonshire and Corby Safer Community Team Sergeant Julie Mead.

One of the trainers, Charmain Warren, 21, of Bampton Court, Corby, said: "PCSOs will be out there on the streets working with young people so we feel it's important that they get a young person's perspective on various issues. We ran lots of exercises on issues such as stereotyping and respect and made the session as fun as possible.

"They listened to our opinions and it was a very worthwhile training session."

Charmain was joined by 17-year-old Lewis Davison, of Exmouth Avenue, and Stefan Stratford, 16, of Croyde Avenue, in addressing 20 PCSOs, a sergeant and an inspector in the training department at Wootton Hall last week.

Stefan said: "I think it went very well. We want PCSOs to understand how young people think."

Sgt Julie Mead said: "The young people were really interesting and informative and I think we all learned a lot."

Police trainer Kate Beck said: "The course ensures the staff have the necessary skills to perform their roles within the community effectively. Youth engagement is an important element of their role.

"This particular session is very interactive, with many different exercises that make the staff think about how they would positively interact with young people in the future. Youth engagement is an important element of their role. This particular session is interactive, with many different exercises that make the SCT staff think about how they would positively interact with young people in the future."