Force set to shut ‘underused stations’

Stations in villages including Misterton, near Doncaster, and Carlton in Lindrick, near Worksop, are set to shut under the new arrangements unveiled by Nottinghamshire Police.

Instead officers will base themselves in the nearest major station, or in some cases will have a presence in other community buildings.

Under the plans the number of front counter services offered by the force will be reduced from 42 to 18.

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Ackerley said the move would raise around £880,000 from the sale of buildings and save almost £720,000 a year in costs, the equivalent of about 50 police staff jobs.

Mr Ackerley said yesterday: “Our ambition is to become the best force in the country by 2015. To achieve this it is imperative we have the right operating model in place.

“Spending money wisely is one of our top three strategic priorities. In many cases we have police stations and buildings which are old, underused, expensive to maintain and are a drain on funding.

“People simply do not use them in the way they once did. This is largely due to the massive growth in the other more convenient ways the public can get in touch with us.

“Our safer neighbourhood teams are now far more accessible within local communities and modern technology means people can now contact us at home, at work and on the go.

“However, we recognise there are some people who still want the option of visiting a police station so we are proposing to keep a number of front counter services available.

“Those 18 stations will put us in line with forces such as Leicestershire and South Yorkshire who already offer these services at a similar number of sites.”