Police base opening hours face cutbacks

Police chiefs are looking at scaling down the opening hours of Old Hill Police Station from 10am-6pm to 10am-2pm.

They say the station is under-used and the move will free up officers to patrol the streets.

South Sandwell Police Insp Ian Massey said at present there is an operational officer sitting in the Halesowen Road-based police station for eight hours a day.

However if that is cut to four hours then the officer would spend the rest of the shift on the beat. It comes after monitoring of visitor numbers revealed that just one or two residents visit the station on average on a daily basis.

"We don't want to close the facility altogether," he said.

"We have noticed that we have very few visitors to Old Hill police station at certain times of the day. As a result we are considering options on the best way of staffing the front office and providing an effective service to members of the public. We are in the process of consulting local councillors and members of the public to gauge feedback before any decision is made."

Insp Massey said the proposals were only in the early stages and a date for implementation – if the proposals are approved – was not yet known.

If the changes go ahead anyone who goes to the station when it is closed would still be able to use an intercom service to speak to the police control centre.

They would either then send an immediate response for an emergency, or arrange an appointment for the resident.

Insp Massey added: "I think the community get a great deal of reassurance from having the station there."

Councillor Barbara Price, town lead for Rowley Regis has been consulted on the proposals and supports the plans.

She said: "I totally agree with it, we've got to keep the police on the streets and I think that is the best use of resources. The police should be on the beat. We don't like closing them down at 2pm but I would rather see police officers on the beat than behind the desk."