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Station closures are just the beginning says West Midlands PCC, with more cuts on the way

Shutting 28 police stations 'is just the beginning', according to Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson in a stark warning about the impact of funding cuts.

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Five police bases in the Dudley borough are among those at risk of the axe as part of the West Midlands Police cuts.

Dudley, Stourbridge, Halesowen, Kingswinford and Netherton will all be left without a police station if the plans go ahead.

In Wolverhampton, Oxley, Heath Town, Merridale Court, Pennwood Court, Tettenhall and Staveley House stations will all close. Tanhouse Centre in Great Barr is also due to shut.

Scrutinising the cost-cutting plan at a meeting yesterday, Mr Jamieson said the force would need to consider 'very unattractive' options in the coming years as government cuts take hold.

Meanwhile police chiefs insisted the closures will have no impact on public safety.

Mr Jamieson, said: "This reduction is driven largely by reducing budgets which means reducing numbers of staff and therefore we need fewer places to put them.

"We are only half way through the changes that need to take place. These 28 are just the beginning.

"In years to come we will be looking even more at the building stock.

"If the Chancellor carries out his threat of a 40 percent reduction in the spending review we will have to look at a number of other options that will be very unattractive."

None of the buildings included in the plan are open to the public and police estimate they could be sold for an estimated total of £7.3m.

Shutting the bases will reduce the force's overall estate by 10 percent - but a 45 percent reduction is targeted by 2020.

Bosses have revealed 68 buildings will go over the next five years saving around £9 million per year.

Speaking at yesterday's meeting of the Strategic Policing and Crime Board, Deputy Chief Constable Dave Thompson said there would be no impact on public safety as a result of the closures.

"These buildings are not heavily used," he said. "A lot of them are throwbacks to a time when officers physically deployed out of them, which is not how we work now.

"They are not well used and this will not have any impact on the service the public receive."

When revealed last week the proposals sparked an angry response from politicians including James Morris, MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis, who launched a petition against the closure of Halesowen station. It has so far had 474 signatures on his website.

Mr Jamieson rebuked the stance of Conservative MPs who had criticised the closures.

He said: "I found the reaction from Members of Parliament interesting.

"It is interesting they support austerity as long as it does not affect their constituency.

"In contrast I noticed Margot James, MP for Stourbridge, said she would rather see a reduction in bricks and mortar than in frontline officers. I think that is a very sensible approach."

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