KENT Police and Crime Commissioner Ann Barnes proclaimed herself the “voice of the people” on the first anniversary of her appointment.

Ann Barnes was elected to the £85,000 a year post last November as an independent candidate on a turnout of just 16 per cent after defeating challengers from all the main political parties.

She has been one of the most high profile of the 42 PCCs in England and Wales particularly after youth crime commissioner Paris Brown was forced to quit in April.

The 16-year-old’s appointment represented a flagship policy for Mrs Barnes whose own role was created to allow greater oversight of the police.

But the Sheerness teen stepped down after a national newspaper splashed details of abusive messages she posted on Twitter across its front page.

Despite the ups and downs of her first year in the job Mrs Barnes was in bullish form at a joint meeting of the three Gravesham neighbourhood forums at the Shri Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara in Gravesend on Thursday.

She told an audience of around 120: “My role is to be the voice of the people.

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The commissioner addresses Thursday's meeting at Gravesend gurdwara. 

“To do that effectively I have to know what people are thinking and what they are worried about.”

To that end, the former chairman of the Kent Police Authority has taken to travelling the county in a van dubbed Ann Force One.

She said: “It isn’t a joke that van. Since I took up office last year I have visited 75 towns and villages in Kent and there are a lot more to go because this is one of the biggest policing areas in the country.”

The commissioner made the maintenance of neighbourhood policing a priority through the recruitment of 20 police officers and 60 PCSOs in January despite Kent Police facing another £20 million cuts on top of £50 million already absorbed.

In June an independent investigation she commissioned into Kent’s crime recording figures and practices slated Kent Police for chasing targets and under-recording crimes.

Mrs Barnes remains “absolutely determined” to appoint a new youth commissioner, saying the role could help “keep young people out of the criminal justice system”.