West Midlands Police response teams could be relocated

Wolverhampton and Brierley Hill would be the two bases with around 200 officers relocated from stations in Bloxwich and West Bromwich.

The idea is one of many being considered by West Midlands Police as part of its six-year estates plan.

Earlier this year the force announced it was closing 24 police stations, including eight in the Black Country.

West Midlands Police Federation chairman Sergeant Richard Cooke said he was against the plan to move response teams.

The plan would see officers start and end shifts at one of the two bases and work remotely thanks to technological advancements.

But Sgt Cooke said: "I think it is unrealistic to have officers leave their station and spend their whole shift out on the patch.

"There will be a natural skew of officers to their bases because they will want to finish on time and they will not want to be isolated.

"It will mean areas like Wolverhampton will have more officers than Walsall, while places like Aldridge could see response times increase."

Sgt Cooke said he believed the plan had been put back from implementation due to opposition, but was still on the table.

He added: "Officers want somewhere to do have their sandwich, they want somewhere to do their paperwork. They don't want to do it all from a car park."

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "As part of the force-wide estate plan announced in March, work is taking place in the background to ensure teams which work operationally close together are located in the same building to help provide a faster, more efficient service."

The estate plan is aimed at saving the force £5m and protecting 100 officer posts.

The eight police stations to close are stations in Sedgley, Oldbury, Aldridge, Tipton, Wednesfield, Smethwick and Wednesbury.

There are just 10 stations with public counters left in the West Midlands. They include Bloxwich, Brierley Hill, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton.

The police spokesman added: "In addition, the estate team are exploring a number of new and exciting options available to us across the force area which would allow more officers co-located with partners in shared premises based in the heart of local communities.

"The estate programme is expected to last six years and with all the considerations, the programme team are in early stage of planning with no confirmation at this stage where teams will be based in the future estate."