Yorkshire market town to keep police station in U-turn - and get 12 extra officers

Chief constable Lee Freeman said the station in Pocklington was no longer going to be sold and they would bolster the current staffing arrangements to give a 24/7 presence.

East Riding councillor Mike Stathers welcomed the news.

He said: "We as ward councillors and local residents have been calling for a greater police presence in Pocklington for the past few years.

"There was serious concern within the rural community that we didn't have a sufficient police presence.

"My understanding was that the response was coming from officers from Goole, which is at least going to be at least a 40 minute drive. It is not good just to be given a log number.

"It is really good to see more police in our community.

"We are fortunate in this part of the East Riding that we have a pretty low crime rate, but that's not to say that the community should not have a greater police presence."

The announcement comes ahead of police and crime commissioner elections in May which in East Yorkshire will see Labour incumbent Keith Hunter facing a challenge from contenders including Conservative candidate Craig Ulliott.

The force last year had the biggest recruitment campaign in its history, adding 492 new officers to bring the total more than 1,900.

There are now over 1950 officers, with plans to reach 2,150 in the next two years.

Meanwhile Edlington police station, near Doncaster, which has been shut for six years, due to reopen this month.

Chief Constable Lee Freeman said, “Over the last two and half years the Police and Crime Commissioner Keith Hunter and I have overseen the reintroduction of local policing and the largest single recruitment campaign in the history of Humberside Police.

“During this time, I have significantly increased policing resources in East Riding, returning patrol officers to bases in Beverley, Hedon, Hornsea and Withernsea, as well as adding officers, detectives and intelligence staff in Goole and Bridlington.

“Pocklington has always been in the forefront of our thoughts and the announcement today follows a huge amount of work between us and the PCC.

“Pocklington is a developing and growing town and therefore, I am pleased to be able to report that we have listened to the people of Pocklington and the police station is no longer going to be sold.

“To bolster the existing Police Community Support Officers and Community Beat Manager, PC John Day, we will be posting 12 additional police officers to the station in the coming months to provide a 24/7 presence for the town and its residents.

Police and Crime Commissioner Keith Hunter said: “I have responsibility for police buildings and due to the Chief Constable’s decision to increase the number of officers in Pocklington I was delighted to be able to reverse a proposal made some time ago to sell the police station.

"I will continue to work on behalf of residents to ensure this progresses across the force area as our hard work and planning over the last four years continues to benefit the communities we serve.”