Two of four public enquiry counters in borough axed

Two public enquiry counters in the Rochdale borough will close, Greater Manchester Police Authority has confirmed.

From Tuesday 10 April public enquiry counters at Littleborough Police Station and Heywood Police Station will close.

The counter at Rochdale Police Station will open every day between 8.00am and 11.00pm and the counter at Middleton Police Station will be open between 8.00am and 6.00pm Monday - Saturday.

In total 33 of 55 counters across Greater Manchester will close.

Of the 22 that will remain open there will be four in Manchester, including one in the city centre, and two in each remaining borough.

The changes will save the Police Authority and the Force almost £1.5M and follows a comprehensive review undertaken by GMPA and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) which revealed a dramatic fall in the number of people visiting police enquiry counters.

More than 2,500 people have taken part in a consultation exercise to have their say on the plans and help shape public access to police services in the future.

The Force has also undertaken a formal 90-day statutory consultation with staff and Unison about the changes.

Due to voluntary redundancies and requests from some staff to reduce their working hours, it is anticipated that no compulsory redundancies will be issued to staff currently working at public enquiry counters.

Councillor Paul Murphy, Chairman of GMPA, said: “After listening to the views of the public and staff and reviewing the results of the demand analysis, we are confident that GMP can continue to provide a face-to-face service that meets the needs of the public with 22 enquiry counters open to the public.

“As part of our plans to find savings of £134M by 2015, we need to ensure that we concentrate our resources where they have the biggest impact so that our communities receive an efficient, effective police service.”

Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan said: "Neighbourhood policing remains at the heart of what we do and we will continue to provide contact locally with officers at neighbourhood meetings and surgeries, arranging appointments and getting in touch by telephone, email or through social networks. 

"We will continue to listen to the views of our communities to help shape the future delivery of policing in Greater Manchester."