Police to close stations to public (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Police to close stations to public

10:46am Thursday 8th February 2007 in News By Katie Adams

Police are planning to close all but three of the enquiry offices in the county.

Enquiry office staff are so worried by the plan they have written to MPs to voice their concern.

In their letter they give the example of how a suicidal man was helped by front desk staff in Chippenham.

They say many people visit the offices daily, and at weekends people queue to use the phones provided outside the station when the office is shut.

The letter, which is signed by ten enquiry officers from Chippenham and Trowbridge, has been sent to MPs Michael Ancram and Andrew Murrison asking for their support.

Offices in Chippenham, Devizes and Marlborough are among those that will be axed.

Those in Malmesbury, Corsham, Wootton Bassett, Calne and Pewsey were closed on a temporary basis last year but they will not now re-open.

Devizes MP Michael Ancram is furious about the closures and plans to take it up with Chief Constable Martin Richards. He said: "I think this is a retrograde step.

"Local access to police is an important part of having confidence in the police. I will be asking him how he intends to maintain that confidence."

The closures are part of a major reorganisation of how the force delivers its services and the local police stations will, in effect, be closed to the public.

The only enquiry centres remaining open will be at Swindon, Melksham and Salisbury.

The force said it will be introducing a number of police contact points in key locations throughout Wiltshire but has not said what form these will take and if they will be reverting to the old Police Box system.

The proposed closures will be discussed by the Wiltshire Police Authority tomorrow.

The force says the closures are part of what it calls "the latest stage in the evolution of enhanced community-based policing services".

Acting assistant chief constable Paul Howlett said: "In seeking to deliver services in a way that meets demand, we have looked at the existing ways in which the public can contact the police."

He claimed the number of people calling at police stations had fallen dramatically over the decades to a point where there was little justification in keeping them open.

"In some stations only a couple of people a day ever call in," he said.

Reaction to the police plan

Wootton Bassett town councillor Chris Wannell said he would be attending Friday's meeting.

"I'm totally against the closure of the enquiry offices," he said.

"It's another downgrading of policing in this county.

"If we lose these enquiry offices, is policing going to get any better?

"The answer to that is probably not."

Cricklade Town Council chairman Clive Wilce said an enquiry office in towns like Cricklade is vital.

"It's very important for people in Cricklade, because it's our only real point of contact with the police," he said.

"If that is taken away permanently I would be thoroughly disappointed.

"If that's the intention, I think it's a very bleak picture."

One of the strongest objections comes from Pewsey where the parish council had been fearing the loss of the village police station for the past five years or more.

Parish council chairman Alex Carder said: "It is very well saying that only two or three people call in but if it's you calling in then it is 100 per cent important. The police telephone numbers are so long and so difficult to remember and people have trouble getting through."

Closing enquiry desks would result in many people, particularly the elderly, losing their contact with the police said Coun Carder.

Marlborough's county councillor Marianne Hannaford-Dobson said there had been no consultation with local authorities over the closures.

She said: "I don't know how they can justify it, I really don't. This is yet another of our services being taken away."

Malmesbury Town councillor Andrew Woodcock said even small towns, such as Malmesbury, deserved an office.

"It's very valuable having a visible police presence where people can make inquiries," he said.

"The next thing will probably be the police station itself closing."

Devizes Town councillor Noel Woolrych, a former chairman of the town's crime prevention panel, described the move as a retrograde step.

He said: "It doesn't exactly surprise me but I think it's awful, I really do.

"Wiltshire police has problems in retaining its officers and I know they are under strength in Devizes.

"But people need a point of presence.

"I know we're getting CCTV, but that was supposed to be an extra aid to public safety and not instead of an enquiry office."

Chippenham Mayor Maureen Lloyd said: "I think I would regret the decision to close the enquiry office. It is not in the best interest of our community, and having the office open encourages people to have a good relationship with the police."