Town police station ‘is to be closed’ (From Ledbury Reporter)
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Town police station ‘is to be closed’
7:44am Friday 7th September 2012 in Ledbury By Gary Bills-Geddes
CLOSING? Ledbury's Police station
LEDBURY police station could close under a property review being carried out between West Mercia Police and Warwickshire Police.
The two forces are forming an alliance, and with services and property in the melting pot, rumours are growing in Ledbury that the decision has already been taken to shut the Worcester Road-based station.
Former deputy town mayor Councillor Tony Bradford, declined to reveal his sources but said he had it “on good authority” that the police station will indeed close.
He said: “My view is, as a town, we are losing all our services.
“I’ve been saying this for 18 months and I have been heavily criticised for saying it.
“But how can we be a town without a police station, job centre, ambulance station and so on? I see the writing on the wall for Ledbury.”
The limited opening hours at the police station have led to much debate in recent months; but the idea that the station will close altogether is new.
And West Mercia Police declined to rule the closure out this week.
Toby Shergold, media communications officer at the force, said: “As far as police buildings are concerned, everything is being looked at.
“We have gone into an alliance with Warwickshire Police, which will mean sharing a lot of services and facilities.”
Concerning the possible closure of Ledbury station, he said: “We are not ruling it in; we are not ruling it out.
Nothing is confirmed at this stage.”
Ledbury’s mayor, Coun Phill Bettington said: “I would not like to see it shut, and I would want to see why it has to close and where the services will go.”
Coun Bettington said he was also concerned about the future of the Ledbury ambulances and first responders, which are based at the police station following the recent closure and sale of Ledbury ambulance station in Bye Street.
He said: “All these are questions that will need to be asked.
“I will try and fight the closure, if it is announced; but we can only do what we can.”
Comments(3)
Dawes Court relative
says...
9:38am Sat 8 Sep 12
I will go as far as suggesting that this is all being orchestrated by Hereford.
They promote development in the city and stiffle it outside.
So ask yourselves this - Is Ledbury just going to become a dormitory for Hereford when it can thrive on its own because it has better communications to the rest of the country due to its proximity to the M50?
Colin J Marschall
says...
11:05am Sat 8 Sep 12
Dawes Court relative wrote:Certainly not paranoid.
Call me paranoid, but!
I will go as far as suggesting that this is all being orchestrated by Hereford.
They promote development in the city and stiffle it outside.
So ask yourselves this - Is Ledbury just going to become a dormitory for Hereford when it can thrive on its own because it has better communications to the rest of the country due to its proximity to the M50?
When you add together all the evidence and coincidences it starts to become obvious. Lets not forget that HCC are also looking to offload anything that costs them money onto the town council, such as verge cutting, public toilets and probably a few of the buildings as well .. yet when the request is made to take over items that actually make money the answer is no.
Colin J Marschall says...
5:01pm Fri 7 Sep 12