Chippenham police station to close on Friday (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Officers will complete move to council offices

2:10pm Monday 18th March 2013 in News By Julie Armstrong, Senior reporter

The police station at  Wood Lane in Chippenham will close for the last time at 5pm on Friday when officers complete their move to a new base at the council offices at Monkton Park.

The move will bring the police enquiry office team under the same roof as their neighbourhood policing and response officer colleagues who are already based at the council premises.

This is the final stage of a phased programme to relocate public facing services in Chippenham and work more closely with our partner agencies to improve services and save taxpayers money.

The police enquiry office will provide the same service at Monkton Park with the same opening hours: 8am – 8pm Monday to Saturday, closed bank holidays and Sundays.

Superintendent Gavin Williams, Local Policing North, said: “Sharing buildings with the council is a key way for us to work more closely with our partner agencies to improve the service we give to the public. Being under the same roof will enable ‘real time’ information sharing, enhanced engagement with communities and will result in more efficient use of resources.”

Mark Stone, Programme Director for Wiltshire Council, said: “This final move is the culmination of months of planning in Chippenham and we are delighted to welcome the police enquiry office to Monkton Park.

"This innovative, partnership approach will make the best use of public resources, will provide a better service for local residents and will support closer working between our two organisations.”

Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon Angus Macpherson said: “From Monday 25 March people in Chippenham will be able to get help from both the police and council enquiry offices under the same roof. I welcome this move, which follows both neighbourhood and response police officers relocating to Monkton Park.

"Through sharing buildings in this way we are able to provide effective services to the public while saving money in the light of significant budget cuts across the public sector.”

"Charities Splash and Bobby Van which are also currently based on Wood Lane police station will be moving on Monday.

Splash will be moving to Melksham police station with a new contact telephone number of 01249 449615. Bobby Van will be based at Devizes Borough police station and will be contactable on 01380 733231.

Both charities email addresses remain the same - splash@wiltshire.police.uk and bobbyvan@wiltshire.police.uk.

The Wood Lane station will be closed and work will start to decommission the site, with the long-term plan to sell it off.