Hunt still on for new police post in Newport

The station, in Wellington Road, closed in October as part of West Mercia Police's plans to deals with £20 million of cuts.

People can no longer call into the station but the building is still being used by officers when working in the town and will continue to be used until a venue for the new community policing post is found.

West Mercia Police said it was in discussions with "lots of difference places", including Harper Adams University and schools, but terms have not yet been agreed.

Spokeswoman Helen Blake said: "A community policing post is not a police base. To put it crudely, it is a place which officers can use for a loo and a brew, enabling them to spend more time on patrol in the local area without having to keep returning to their base in Donnington."

West Mercia Police has also held talks with Newport Town Council over using the Guildhall in High Street.

In other towns, community policing posts are also used for regular Police and Communities Together meetings.

Ms Blake said she would expect a decision to be made on a community policing post venue in the next month. The police station will then be sold on the open market.

Meanwhile, Shrewsbury's police control room is set to close by March next year, staff have been told. The control room in Battlefield, which employs 84 people, is due to shut in 2015.

Workers were sent letters before Christmas explaining the "most likely scenario" is that the centre will close by March 2015. The prospect was first mooted in February last year.

West Mercia Police said at the time that it was examining recommendations that the Shrewsbury control room was to shut, with services to be run from the force's southern control room at force headquarters in Hindlip, Worcestershire.

The move is part of the strategic alliance between West Mercia and Warwickshire Police, with a joint blueprint drawn up to help both forces save a combined £30 million by 2016.

No official decision has been announced on whether the Shrewsbury closure will definitely take place, but staff were informed last month that the plans were progressing.

Superintendant Charles Hill said: "To deliver the required savings in accordance with the blueprint means that the closure of Battlefield would need to be in March 2015. I want to be clear that this remains the likely scenario."

Deputy West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner Barrie Sheldon said that efforts will be made to find affected staff alternative jobs.