Petition over Dudley Police Station closure to public is delivered

It was launched by Dudley North MP Ian Austin after it was announced in November that Dudley Police Station would close to the public.

Mr Austin, who has also secured a meeting with Policing Minister Mike Penning, has raised concerns about the proposed move and he says there is 'huge opposition' in the town to the plans.

The public counter at Dudley is one of three in the borough and one of 27 across the wider West Midlands which will close under the plans by West Midlands Police, which are aimed at saving £3 million.

Mr Austin said: "There's huge opposition to these plans in Dudley so I'm pleased that the Policing Minister is meeting me to discuss their concerns.

"It is completely unacceptable that Dudley could become the largest town in the country without a police station open to the public.

"Thousands of local people are backing my campaign because they know these cuts will mean fewer police on the streets, fewer offenders brought before court and fewer criminals put in jail," said Mr Austin.

Dudley Police Station is currently open throughout the week from 10am to 6pm.

West Midlands Police says the proposals to shut front counters follow an independent review, which shows the majority of the public no longer visit stations and instead make phone calls, use the internet or social media to contact officers.

More than 7,000 people were interviewed and footfall across front offices was monitored as part of the review.

It found fewer than one in 10 had been to a front desk in the previous 12 months.

The force say a range of methods for contacting the police exist such as calling 101, dedicated email addresses and Twitter/Facebook accounts for neighbourhood teams, community meetings and drop in surgeries.

It costs the force £5.5m to run the counters.

The front counters at the stations in Halesowen and Stourbridge will also shut. In Sandwell, both Tipton and Old Hill stations will close to the public, as will the Smethwick counter which is currently open 24 hours.

Two in Wolverhampton will be shut with others seeing reduced hours.

Aldridge and Willenhall stations will also shut their doors.

Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson has defended the move saying the counters had become less important, adding: "Ninety five per cent of people have mobile phones now, and can contact the police from anywhere."

He added: "The current service doesn't meet people's preferences and is becoming increasingly expensive as fewer and fewer people use it. We need to deploy staff to call centres where possible to free up resources that keep police officers where people want them: On the street, preventing crime and catching criminals."

While Assistant Chief Constable Carl Foulkes said: "The decision to close front offices has not been taken lightly and followed a year-long review speaking to our communities to gain a detailed understanding of the service we provide and thoroughly analysing footfall.

"The simple fact is front offices are hugely under-used and cost the taxpayer millions each year to keep open. Nothing will change to the local delivery of policing – local neighbourhood teams will continue to patrol and be very much a part of their local community.

"Like all other forces, we have to continue to reduce spending and ensure taxpayers' money is spent on the services which matter to them most.

"We need to ensure we offer a service that is relevant to people in their daily lives."