Residents welcome plans to move Rothbury police station

Dec 22 2008 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

POLICE in a Northumberland village could soon be on the move, with plans to be submitted for the station’s relocation.

Northumbria Police are to lodge plans to move the station in Croft Road on the outskirts of Rothbury into the village centre, to offices below the Coquetdale Art Centre in the court buildings on High Street.

Last night, villagers welcomed the proposed relocation, which is intended to make the police more accessible and visible in Rothbury.

Parish councillor Helen Edes, who lives at nearby Well Strand, said: “It will be easier to be accessed, the police will be more visible and it will probably slow the traffic down if they know they are going past the police station.

“It is not a bad idea having the police on your doorstep if somebody breaks in to your house.”

The Croft Road station has no set public opening hours, but people can speak to officers when they are available. It has an external phone for the public to report problems.

Plans indicate the new facility, within Rothbury Conservation Area, would potentially be open up to 24 hours a day with five staff on site.

But a police spokesman last night said the 24-hour provision would be for officers as and when required, and not the public.

He said the level of policing would be the same as at the current base.

Supt Laura Young, of Northumberland Area Command, said: “Rothbury has a very low crime rate but we are always looking at ways of improving the accessibility and visibility of our police buildings, as well as responding to the needs of our communities. Although in their early stages, there are plans to transfer the current police facilities on the outskirts of the town into newly renovated premises on the high street.

“This central location should benefit both the people of Rothbury and the thousands of visitors who come to the area each year.”

The offices once housed the village police station and a cell used at the time is still in existence.

More recently the site has been a library, and a registry and council offices. It was last used in March.