London ? Big Mac, fries and a burly police constable, please.

Officers are being encouraged to eat at McDonald’s and other fast food outlets while on duty to help cut street crime, police officials said Wednesday.

Police chiefs in Birmingham, central England, have issued officers vouchers to eat at McDonald’s, in an effort to increase their visibility and save time in walking or driving back to the staff canteen.

In nearby West Bromwich, officers have been encouraged to take meal breaks in public places. The force said the move had been warmly received by local fast food outlets and supermarkets police cars parked on the premises helped deter thieves.

Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government, which has pledged that street crime will be under control by the end of September, said Wednesday it backed the initiative and was studying how to extend it nationwide.

An ICM opinion poll published Wednesday by the British Broadcasting Corp. found 53 percent of respondents thought street crime had risen in the past six months and 28 percent said they had never seen an officer on the beat in their area.

The government has dedicated $168 million since April to target 10 crime hotspots. Earlier this month, it announced that street crime had fallen by 14 percent since April in those areas.

Chief Supt. Bruce Gilbert, who is based in West Bromwich, said the public had welcomed the initiative.

Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation Glen Smyth said he could see the benefits but wondered how police across the country would respond to it.

“Sometimes you just need five minutes to yourself, but you are not going to get that if you are on show when you take a meal break,” he said. “But having said that, it is maybe advantageous to officers in some cases, and I can see there will be benefits for the public, too.”

Most respondents to the opinion poll believed street crime had become worse despzite the government’s crackdown.

The poll suggested that 24 percent of people 55 and above were too worried to leave their homes at night for fear of being mugged, and 32 percent of parents with children ages 10 to 16 were too worried to let them out after dark.

Responding to the poll, a spokeswoman for the Home Office said the latest figures indicated the crackdown was a success, but the public may not notice the difference until a sustained and long-term drop in the offending rate.

The ICM poll surveyed 1,009 people across the United Kingdom age 14 and over between Sept. 9-12. No margin of error was given.