Crime blow for town as police base move delayed over costs

Suzanne Webb said the number of officers around Stourbridge High Street had plummeted since the town's police station was closed down in August 2017.

She said that now shops had reopened after lockdown it was crucial that the Stourbridge Neighbourhood Policing Team – currently housed three miles away in Brierley Hill – was relocated back into the town.

Labour Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson signed off on the use of a council office in Market Street as a temporary base for officers in October 2019, but it has now emerged that the move has hit the buffers due to spiralling costs.

Ms Webb, the Conservative MP for Stourbridge, said: “It would seem Labour do not care much for policing in Stourbridge.

"The Labour Police Commissioner closed our police station, then despite signing off paperwork to enable police officers to be based locally in the town, failed to implement his own plan.

"As residents return to our High Street, it’s crucial the local police presence also increases."

Jay Singh-Sohal, the Conservative candidate for PCC at next month's election, has pledged to reopen a police base in Stourbridge and to increase the number of neighbourhood officers.

He has also committed to a review of the force's controversial estates programme, which has seen the closure of more than 20 Black Country police buildings in a bid to cut costs.

Mr Jamieson, who is retiring next month, said: "I signed a decision to proceed with discussions with Dudley Council on the Market Street site.

"It has shown that the costs to both parties are more than originally anticipated.

"We are totally committed to ensuring a new base for the neighbourhood team in Stourbridge and continue to work with the council on a suitable site in the town."

He added that it was "astonishing" that Mr Singh-Sohal was proposing to use "taxpayers' money to keep empty police stations open" and was "pretending to the public that no cuts had occurred".