Shropshire police emergency control room closes down

The closure means 999 calls from the county will now be dealt with at a control room in Hindlip, Worcester.

West Mercia Police announced plans to close the control room at Battlefield, in Shrewsbury, earlier this year, and it is understood the final calls were taken on Friday.

Staff were asked whether they wanted to move, with three taking up the positions in Worcester and 12 others choosing to take redundancy at the end of March.

A number of workers stayed on to cover the shortfall in positions until the closure at the end of last month.

Police have stressed that Shropshire 999 calls have been handled outside the county under the previous arrangements.

The force has also said that there will be no reduction in service for the public of Shropshire.

When the move was announced, one worker who wished to remain anonymous said: "Shropshire and Telford divisions will be managed from the south control room where even the supervisors don’t know Oswestry from Bridgnorth. It’s very worrying."

Superintendent Emma Bastone said: “Our two new purpose-built Operations Communications Centres at Hindlip, Worcester and at Warwick Technology Park will bring major improvements in our ability to respond to incidents and revolutionise the way our communities can interact with us.

"Full consultation has been ongoing with our staff at the centre at Battlefield, Shrewsbury, with a number of staff relocated to the new OCC at Hindlip, ensuring that our emergency response team retains their important skill.

Better

"We will be transitioning to the new service, and confirm that there will be no reduction of services in the Shropshire and Telford area. We are committed to protecting people from harm, and these new operations and communication centres will help us to achieve this and ensure the public gets the right service first time.”

Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion also said he believed the changes would be good for the public.

He said: "This is the latest stage in the delivery, of a state of the art £23.5 million shared communications centre, which will bring a better service for communities in Shropshire and right across West Mercia. Once again like to place on record my thanks to the dedicated staff who continue to did such good work at the Shrewsbury site."

Force spokeswoman Eleanor Harris said the new centres had been designed to improve responses to incidents.

She said: "West Mercia Police, in its alliance with Warwickshire Police, has made significant investments in its Operations Communications Centre (OCC), with two new purpose built centres at Hindlip, Worcester and at Warwick Technology Park, equipped with new technologies that will bring major improvements in our ability to respond to incidents and revolutionise the way our communities can interact with us.

"There will be no reduction of services in the Shropshire and Telford area, as the OCC at Hindlip will cover these areas. The changes to the OCC actually allow us to provide an improved service to the public, allowing the police to deploy resources in a more efficient and effective way. The police will improve the ways in which they interact with the public, taking more information and resolving more calls at the first point of contact and enabling officers to spend more time with victims and witnesses. "