Two Welsh Conservative politicians have welcomed the U-turn made by Dyfed Powys Police to reopen the Welshpool Police Station reception desk to members of the public.
Montgomeryshire Assembly Member, Russell George and Member of Parliament, Glyn Davies, said that common sense had prevailed and agreed with the comments made by Inspector Matthew Scrace, that the closing the desk and replacing it with a mobile unit just yards away from the station was ‘ludicrous’.
The two Montgomeryshire representatives recently wrote a letter to the Dyfed Powys Police and Crime Commissioner, Christopher Salmon, requesting that the initial decision be reviewed because the service was ‘inadequate’ and had ‘lost public confidence’. They also pointed out that access to the mobile unit was so poor that it may not even comply with the Disability Discrimination Act.
Commenting, Glyn Davies said:
"I think the restoration of the front desk service at Welshpool Police Station is a welcome move.
"I felt the original decision was flawed, as I simply could not see how opening a very small mobile unit just yards from the building that once housed this service would make any significant cost savings or improve public access to their police force.
"I appreciate that individuals and organisations can make mistakes but it’s how they respond to those issues that’s important and I believe this honest reappraisal will be well received by the local community."
Russell George also welcomed the decision but felt that Dyfed Powys Police needed to provide more details of how the service would operate. He added:
"I am very keen to see a front desk service return to the police station building as quickly as possible.
"At the end of the day people want to speak to a real person, face-to-face to get an issue resolved and at the moment with the current mobile service, some members of the public are being prevented from doing that and that’s not acceptable.
"What we now need is more information about opening hours, how the force is going to publicise this service to get people to use it and what is going to happen to the mobile unit moving forward.
"I am meeting the Police and Crime Commissioner next week in Cardiff and I will be raising all these issues with him then."