MP calls on police chief to reinstate town station

An MP has written to his county's police chief urging the reinstatement of a fully operational police station in his main constituency town.

Currently, a police hub is open two days a week in Corby, Northamptonshire - a situation Labour MP Lee Barron criticised.

In a letter to Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet, he said: "The current service is just not good enough. It is time to review resources and set up a police station and a dedicated response unit which can meet the demands of our communities."

Police, fire and crime commissioner, Danielle Stone, and the chief constable said there was a visit planned in Corby in the next few weeks, and they had contacted Mr Barron for his involvement.

Police officers moved out of their station in Elizabeth Street to a hub at the multimillion-pound Corby Cube in 2017.

In his letter, the MP emphasised his concerns were not a criticism of frontline officers, who he said were working hard with limited resources.

Instead, he argued that Corby residents deserved a response unit capable of meeting the town's policing demands, and would raise the issue in Parliament to the policing minister.

Mr Barron added: "I urge you to support an uplift in Corby's policing provision and would welcome the opportunity to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss how we can improve this situation."

In a statement, Ms Stone and Mr Balhatchet said: "We have already reopened the front office at Campbell Square police station in Northampton to make it more accessible to the public, and we are actively looking at ways to give Northamptonshire Police a stronger presence in the county's other major towns – Corby is high on the list.

"Across the county, this could be through shared hubs with other organisations, seeking innovative ways of engaging the community, or by opening new facilities of our own, and we will balance the needs of the community with the operational demands of policing.

"We are working on this as fast as we can to ensure police officers are visible and accessible in the heart of neighbourhoods across the county."

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