A huge amount of police time is being spent trying to thwart the activities of London-based criminal gangs operating in Kent.

Offenders regularly cross "county lines" to target vulnerable people, making it one of the biggest challenges facing the force, says Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott.

"Gangs who are based in London are operating in Kent, they've been pushed out of London by the Metropolitan Police and they are using vulnerable local people, either taking over their properties, or trying to convince children to do their deeds for them," he told KentOnline.

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"The threat of organised crime and serious crime is always changing. They move from different offence types and different groups are involved in different things.

"Kent Police invests a lot in proactive policing to try and make sure we stay on top of all of those issues."

Mr Scott, who was speaking to mark his first year in the job, also revealed the number of cases of domestic abuse in Kent had almost doubled in recent years.

"We still have a long way to go in giving more victims of the confidence to come forward, particularly among male victims who don’t come forward in the same number," he said.

The latest British Crime Survey figures show one in four victims are men, but only one in six report what happened to them.

Mr Scott said: "We need to show that in the same way we've put a lot of effort and will continue to put in a lot of effort into supporting women to get them free from abusive and violent relationships that we will do exactly the same for a man, that there is no stigma attached to being a victim of domestic violence and they will get the same help."

One of his top priorities is ensuring a more visible police presence on the streets and he says he regularly raises the issue during his weekly meetings with Kent Police chief constable Alan Pughsley.

"When residents say to me 'why is it I don't see a police officer as often as I used to' it's because of the way policing has changed," he said.

"Mental health is around a third of all Kent Police time, we've seen a near doubling of cases involving domestic abuse and domestic violence, and we've got serious and organised crime coming into Kent from Europe, London, and other parts of the country.

"All of these demand pressures mean the public don’t always get to see what they want, which is visible policing."

Mr Scott pointed to the £1 million spent on improving services for victims of crime, the recruitment of more police officers and police community support officers, and cutting delays in firearms licensing as some of his key achievements.

"There's still some way to go, I'm continuing to push the mental health agenda, which I'm passionate about, and I hope that I'll be able to deliver even more in the next year," he said.

Mr Scott also dismissed suggestions the money spent on the crime commissioner role would be better served paying for more bobbies on the beat.

"I think this role is really needed, it gives a voice to victims and residents and ultimately while I hold the chief constable to account, I am then accountable to residents too every four years," he said.

"The old police authorities were much more expensive than having just one elected person.

"My office is about £600,000 a year cheaper than having a police authority so by abolishing this office you would have no accountability, no transparency, and no one there to stand up and be the voice of victims."