DOUGHNUTS made in Crickhowell won the seal of approval of the world’s most famous connoisseurs of the tasty treats when a team of NYPD cops came to visit.

Community support officer PCSO Lee Garrett said the doughnuts he bought locally and gave to a team of visiting New York police officers got the thumbs-up during a cultural exchange visit arranged by Crickhowell High School. The NYPD team were joined by teachers from New York and Mexico visiting the small Powys town from America’s biggest city.

PCSO Garrett said the officers from the NYPD’s community affairs department had already met their police counterparts in South Wales and Gwent and were keen to see how things are run in Dyfed-Powys.

Joining PCSO Garrett was a fellow officer from Crickhowell’s Neighbourhood Policing Team, PC Jane Briggs. During the visit the NYPD officers presented their hosts with a T-shirt as a tribute to a fellow officer, Randolph Holder, who died in a shootout in New York in 2015.

PCSO Garrett said: “The NYPD cops were from Spanish Harlem in New York and are based at a police station with over 300 officers. Although there are many differences between being a cop in New York and a PCSO in Crickhowell, we found we face many of the same issues, such as telephone fraud and scams on social media and with iTunes vouchers. They were a great group of officers. I bought them doughnuts from Askew’s in the high street and they said they were the best doughnuts they’ve ever tasted!

“They told me they don’t need to carry handcuffs because they all carry guns. Part of their role is to move into an area as a treatment team after a big drug dealer has been taken out and offer support at jobs fairs and with careers talks. They couldn’t believe that on our patch we can see mountains. At one point I ticked off a young lad and said, ‘I’ll have to speak to your parents’. They were amazed by that.”

Meanwhile the educators from New York and Mexico were sitting in on lessons at Crickhowell High School. The teachers were particularly keen to see how the school runs its One World Youth Club, part of a global network of civic and community-minded groups centred on schools.

The sixth form students were even able to hear a lecture given by Chris Regini from the Half Hollow Hills Central School District.

Crickhowell High School head teacher Jackie Parker said the pupils and staff had enjoyed the interaction with their American visitors.