Shropshire police stations axed in major shake-up

Ironbridge Police Station and a building in Donnington Mill, Telford, will close and will not be replaced.

Whitchurch Police Station will close but will be replaced with a base at a location to be decided. In Albrighton and Ellesmere, stations are also to close and be replaced with community policing posts in shared buildings.

But Bridgnorth Police Station is safe, while in Ludlow its policing team will remain "for now", with the building's future still under review.

The changes are part of a review across the West Mercia force, in which eight police buildings are to be closed and not replaced.

Ironbridge will be served in future from a policing team based in Madeley, while Donnington will serve the area previously covered by the post in Donnington Mill.

Proposals for the shake-up were announced in February and the final plans were confirmed today by Police and Crime Commissioner Bill Longmore.

Other changes under the shake-up will affect stations in Shrewsbury town centre and Much Wenlock, where new Safer Neighbourhood Team bases are to be found.

Community policing posts are also to be set up in Craven Arms, Shifnal, Cleobury Mortimer and Newport.

Mr Longmore said: "I understand the closure of local police buildings is an emotive issue for many communities.

"The important thing is that every community in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Herefordshire and Worcestershire continues to have an acceptable policing presence."

He added: "And, despite the mounting pressure on our budgets, I have worked hard to preserve the visibility of frontline police services."

David Shaw, chief constable of West Mercia Police, said: "Investment in mobile technology and mobile police stations and changes to the way officers will be deployed means that officers will spend less time in the office and more time out on patrol.

"The underlying ethos of our approach has been, where possible, to invest in people not buildings.

"As a force we have made the conscious decision to move the base of some safer neighbourhood teams away from a 'traditional' police station and relocate the base in a community building.

"The consultation has identified the need for some more community bases but has also confirmed the thoroughness of the thinking underpinning the original proposals announced in February."

Officials have pledged that where services are moving, no buildings will close until a replacement location is operational.

The force has to save just over £20 million by 2015 and reviewing its estates and premises is one of the raft of cost-cutting measures it is looking at.

Last month, it was revealed that number of local policing teams in Shropshire will be cut by more than half.

There are currently 43 Safer Neighbourhood Teams in the county, but this will be cut to 20 by October,.

Police chiefs were unable to confirm if any officers would be lost in the shake-up or where there new teams would be based.

Shropshire's police commander, Superintendent James Tozer said the teams would continue to be "visible" and "accessible".

Safer Neighbourhood Teams will replace the current Local Policing Teams from this September.

The deployment bases will be dedicated and secure police sites where officers will report for duty and patrol defined neighbourhoods.

Three areas of Shrewsbury, including the town centre, Harlescott and Sundorne and Castlefields and Bagley have been identified as areas of higher demand and will attract extra resources.

Shropshire police are also equipping the teams with mobile technology to allow them to stay on the beat for longer.