LIFE on the beat for Diederik Coetzee, a former South African policeman, used to be a hell of gunfire and mayhem as he toured the streets of Johannesburg in a bullet-proof vest.

Then he decided to make a career change 5,700 miles away, taking on the gun-toting villains of Nottinghamshire, who are policed by the second-worst performing force in England and Wales.

Result for both the officer and his force: paradise. PC Coetzee was acclaimed yesterday after he made more than 300 arrests in less than a year.

So far this year, he has made 309 arrests, surpassing the previous British record of 305 for a single year with two months to spare. He crushed the existing 242 mark among his Nottinghamshire colleagues in just over seven months.

Yet even now his appetite for feeling the collars of criminals remains unsated. He aims to top at least 380 by the end of the year and then surge on to the magical 400 barrier for 2006.

He said yesterday: “It’s a joy getting up each morning for work. For me it really is a way of life. In South Africa I wore a bulletproof vest and carried a shotgun and sidearm. I was shot at by car thieves and burglars on an almost daily basis.

“At least that doesn’t happen here. All I carry is a CS gas cannister and a baton. So, from a policing point of view, it’s something like paradise.”

PC Coetzee, 48, spent 24 years working as an explosives expert and dog handler in Johannesburg before emigrating eight years ago. A “career cop”, the married father of two had to spend two years as a resident in Britain before he could join the force here.

Once he was in, however, he did not hang around, immediately setting about cleaning up the Ladybrook Estate in the former pit town of Mansfield with little more than a baton and his mountain bike.

After five years, he has realised his dream of smashing the record for arrests made by a single officer in a single year. He once nabbed 11 criminals in one day, but even during a “normal” shift he would expect to pull in at least half a dozen. Speaking from court, where he was giving evidence against some of his arrests, he said: “This year everything has just fallen into place. I’ve got to know the criminals and they all know me. But they don’t even try to run from me any more, because they know I’ll catch up with them. The people tell me Ladybrook was a dump before I came here. It used to be a hot spot for drugs and car crime. But then I got down to work.

“Things have gone so well that the criminals are leaving. My colleagues say I’ve given them more work to do by forcing offenders on to their patch.

“My arrests are from right across the board — burglaries, drugs and traffic offences. The community find it reassuring when they see me on patrol. Some of them probably think I’m crazy, but on the whole they give me great support. The locals are so used to seeing me that I even have a nickname — Mountain Bike Maurice. I’ve no idea where it came from, but it has stuck.”

PC Coetzee contacted every force in Britain to establish that the previous arrests record was held by a dog handler in Northumbria. He added: “I’m motivated to catch criminals. It’s what I enjoy and what I do best. That’s why next year I’m going to set my goals even higher.”

PC Coetzee, a Christian, begins every day with a 90-minute work-out in the gym and a prayer for God’s help in his work. He said: “I have very high energy levels. My idea of relaxing is cycling, running and canoeing. I know my patch like the back of my hand, so when I give chase on my bike there’s little chance of a criminal getting away, even if he’s in a car.

“Another reason for my success is that I’ve stuck with the same beat for years. It’s important that I’m so familiar with the people and the streets.

“It’s not my place to suggest how Britain should be policed, but an officer staying in the same place for a number of years gets to know everybody.”

PC Coetzee is to receive a commendation next year. His local area commander, Inspector Samantha Wilson, said: “He is outstanding and has made such a significant contribution to the division.

“We have a lot of issues facing us as a force, but the officers on the front line are very hard-working — and this is an inspirational example of that. He is self-motivating and never stops working. The criminal fraternity say he is the most well-known cop in the area. I suspect some might even have a sneaky admiration for him.”

Residents of the estate praised PC Coetzee. Rita Sharpe, manager of Turning Point, a local community information centre, said: “Diederik is called ‘Robocop’ and ‘Supercop’ around here. He does his job so well, and obviously the community is much safer as a result. There would be an outcry if he was ever moved from the estate.”

• The latest estimates across the 43 forces in England and Wales show that in 2003-04 the average annual number of arrests for all the 139,000 officers was 9.5. In the Metropolitan Police the average was 6.7 and in Nottinghamshire it was 13.5. The figures include officers who would not normally be on frontline duties.

  RIDING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

  Johannesburg

  Population: 3,225,812

  Elevation: 1,753m (5,700ft) above sea level

  Twinned with Birmingham

  Mining industry: gold and diamonds

  Violent Crime: 69,267 incidents 2004-05

  Mansfield

  Population: 98,181

  Elevation: 30-180m (100ft-580ft) above sea level

  Twinned with Mansfield, Ohio

  Mining industry: coal

  Violent crime: 4,612 incidents 2003-04

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