LISS residents have lashed out at police for being quick to write out parking tickets but too slow to respond to pleas for help in the village. Traders turned out in force to a meeting of Liss Parish Council on Monday night to complain about the way police were dealing with situations in the village centre. Lisa Simmons, from Jade News. told councillors that the businness community had been disappointed when the traffic warden arrived in the village on Monday and turned the shopping centre into a ghost town. "One shop even closed down for the day because the shopkeeper knew the village would be dead - and it was." And supporting her, parish clerk Dick Bowery told the meeting: "I believe the police were a little bit heavy-handed - they visited Liss in the morning and then returned at 2.45 pm. "My own feeling is that it is a waste of resources to use a police community support officer who acts as a chauffeur for the traffic warden who does not drive and to come out here twice in one day." Another villager Elizabeth Smith said she was concerned that a 12-year-old girl had been accosted by the police for cycling on the pavement while four youths smoking marijuana close to the station had been ignored. "They told her they could fine her £30 and caution her, which I think was very heavy-handed when she was just trying to keep safe. I was told the police had just ignored four youths smoking 'spliffs' at the station." Villagers also criticised the police for their slow response to calls for help. Mrs Simmons said an 11-year-old boy had called 101 from her shop because he was too scared to leave after a group of youths gathered outside. He was eventually escorted home by an adult shopper. "As far as I am aware the poolice did not check on the boy's safety," she told parish councillors," she added. Sue Ryder charity shop manageress Shirley Randall claimed she had been asked to wait alone in her shop for an hour by police after reporting an intruder in the yard outside: "I refused to do so because I felt unsafe." Parish councillors said they were disappointed to hear police had been heavy-handed over parking in Station Road. Roger Mullenger said: "I am very surprised because the police said they would be taking a more lenient approach." And Paddy Payne urged villagers to make formal complaints to police to strenghthen the parish council's case for more police. "We need formal complaints to make it stick and we need them in writing." He said he had been trying to improve policing in Liss for six years and set up the police liaison committee in the village to address the problems and improve relations with officers. "Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but we are working hard to try and improve the situation." But he stressed: "We really need villagers to help by writing to the police." Elizabeth Cartwright added that a community support officer was based at the East Hamnpshire District Council office in Petersfield's Penns Place and would welcome comments in writing. After the meeting parish clerk Mr Bowery wrote expressing villagers' to Ins Laurie Rickwood at Whitehill Police Station. "As you know," he said, "Liss Parish Council has a very positive attitude to what is being achieved by the police in our village and feel that the introduction of PC Mowbray as our beat manager has had very good results in some areas. "Therefore, it is somewhat disconcerting for us to receive such a bad feed-back from villagers when we feel that positive moves are being made." He said the council was planning to hold a liaison committee meeting in June to discuss these matter further after the forthcoming elections in the district.