Frontline policing in Shrewsbury will not be affected despite opening hours at the town’s main station being slashed under cost cutting plans, one of Shropshire’s top officers has said.
Residents will have less opportunity to report crimes in person at Shrewsbury Police Station, on Clive Road in Monkmoor, after opening times at public service counters were cut at a meeting of West Mercia Police Authority on Tuesday.
But Chief Inspector Martin Whitelegg, of West Mercia Police, has defended the plans which he said would not reduce the quality or availability of frontline policing in Shrewsbury.
The public service desk will have its Sunday opening times reduced by eight hours, from the spring, while Saturday opening will be reduced by two hours. It will be open 8am until 8pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sundays and bank holidays.
The only stations across Shropshire to remain unchanged will be Pontesbury and the town centre station in Shrewsbury based in the Riverside Shopping Centre.
Police chiefs also stressed there were no plans to make any staff redundant as West Mercia Police tries to find millions of pounds of savings this year.