Police in a County Durham town are to be issued with prompt cards to help them communicate with the area's growing Polish community. About 600 Polish people currently live in Consett and more are expected to arrive to work over the summer.
The cards will contain phrases such as "are you injured?" or "please turn your music down".
Officers will hold up the cards and point to the phrases, rather than attempting to pronounce the words.
Alexandra Jorocka, who works as an interpreter for Durham and Northumbria Police, said the scheme would make life much easier for the police.
She said: ""Officers will not try to speak the language, instead they will point to the simple phrases.
"Polish is very difficult language to speak so I think it's much easier for the officer to point the phrases out, but it's not a 100% solution to the communication problem.
"You still need interpreters to be there, but it will make life easier on the street, especially as lots more Polish people will be coming in the summer."
Earlier this week communities secretary Ruth Kelly called for the amount of material being translated by bodies such as councils to be cut in a bid to encourage immigrants to learn English.
She said translation had been "used too frequently and without thought".
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Polish is very difficult language to speak so I think it's much easier for the officer to point the phrases out
