Open and shut case – changes for police (From Cotswold Journal)

Open and shut case – changes for police

11:00am Thursday 4th October 2012 in News By Sarah Taylor

CHANGES to policing in Pershore came into effect on Monday.

The front desk at Pershore police station has now closed and as of this week, operates from the nearby Wychavon District Council offices.

The move means the service will no longer be available once a month on a Saturday morning as the desk will be operated during the district council opening hours of 9am until 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Despite losing the Saturday opening day, the hub will now be open 40 hours a week, a 12-hour increase.

Wychavon District Commander Sean Kent said the change should not affect the level of service.

“The hours will be the same as the hub and currently there is no agreement to extend the hours,” he said.

“The only thing we would lose is the one Saturday a month, which can be variable – some days there are a number of people in and some days there are none.”

The change comes just two months after the six response officers, who answer emergency calls and visit victims of crime, moved out of Pershore to their new permanent stations in Evesham and Droitwich.

Their numbers also fell from six to four as two officers retired.

Three officers, PC John Hunter, CSO Andrew Russell and CSO David James, are all still based at the station alongside Wychavon district commander Sean Kent and Wychavon CID.

In an article in the Pershore newsletter, Commander Kent said: “Three weeks into this change, standards of service have been maintained.”

Any out-of-hours queries should be directed to the non-emergency number 101.