West Midlands Police front desks down from 48 to 10

The number of stations open to the public plummeted from 48 to just 10.

And some sites have either already closed completely, or are set to shut.

STILL OPEN

Birmingham Central

Bloxwich

Bournville

Brierley Hill

Coventry Central

Solihull

Stechford

Sutton

West Brom

Wolves Central

CLOSED

Acocks Green

Aldridge

Aston

Bilston

Brownhills

Castle Vale

Chelmsley Wood

Darlaston

Digbeth

Dudley

Winson Green

Edgbaston

Erdington

Foleshill

Halesowen

Handsworth

Harborne

Heath Town

Jewellery Quarter

Kings Heath

Kingstanding

Ladywood

Low Hill

Newtown

Old Hill

Oldbury

Perry Barr

Quinton

Sedgley

Smethwick

Solihull Connect

Stourbridge

Tipton

Walsall

Wednesbury

Wednesfield

Willenhall

Willenhall Coventry

Over the next five years, 28 police buildings will close to save £8.6 million through property sales and running costs.

Campaigners have battled the closures, arguing officers needs to have a visible presence in communities.

But bosses insist fewer people than ever are actually using the front desks, meaning it is not cost-effective to keep them open.

Just four stations in the Black Country remain open to the public - Bloxwich, Brierley Hill, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton Central. The others still open are Birmingham Central, Bournville, Coventry Central, Solihull, Stechford and Sutton Coldfield.

But 18 in the Black Country have shut their front desks.

They are Aldridge, Bilston, Brownhills, Darlaston, Dudley, Halesowen, Heath Town, Low Hill, Old Hill, Oldbury, Sedgley, Smethwick, Stourbridge, Tipton, Walsall, Wednesbury, Wednesfield and Willenhall.

The biggest reduction came in the last year, when the number of front desks open dropped from 41 to 10.

Dudley North MP Ian Austin led a campaign to keep the town's station open to the public, presenting a 2,200-name petition to parliament.

And now the station is earmarked to close completely under the latest round of cuts.

He said: "We all know savings have to be made, but these closures and the loss of thousands of officers are a direct result of the Government's decision to hand West Midlands Police disproportionate cuts that are twice as deep as places like Surrey.

"It would be completely unacceptable for the police not to have officers based in the town and available for local people so I'll carry on campaigning to have a permanent police base in Dudley."

Sites in Heath Town, Graiseley, Netherton and The Tanhouse Centre in Great Barr will close completely in January, while Tettenhall will be the first station in the region to shut in February.

Other discarded sites – none of which are open to the public – are Oxley, Pennwood Court and Staveley House, all in Wolverhampton. They will close in March 2016.

Dudley station will go next August, with stations in Halesowen and Tettenhall due to close in January and February 2017 respectively. Windmill House in Smethwick will also close in February 2017.

Stourbridge station will shut its doors in May 2017, followed by the Kingswinford police base in July 2017.

James Morris, MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis, said the force needed to 'get its priorities straight' and said the closures 'do not make sense'.

He added: "West Midlands Police need to spend their money more effectively to provide a proper neighbourhood policing service which people can rely and trust in."

The police say it will help reduce the force's overall budget by £130m by 2020.

Teams currently based at all 28 of the buildings will be moved to other sites in advance of the closure dates.

West Midlands Police spokeswoman Joanne Hunt said: "The decision to close front offices has not been taken lightly and followed a year-long review speaking to our communities to gain a detailed understanding of the service we provide and thoroughly analysing footfall.

"Like all other forces, we have to continue to reduce spending and ensure taxpayers' money is spent on the services which matter to them most.

"We need to ensure we offer a service that is relevant to people in their daily lives. "The simple fact is front offices are hugely underused and cost the taxpayer millions each year to keep open.

"The closures follow analysis which showed there was little demand from the public during the evening and overnight and most people wanted more modern ways of contacting the police.

"The research found that 92 per cent of the public prefer to contact us by phone, of the remaining eight per cent, four per cent attend front offices because they are required to do so leaving a very small proportion of the remaining visitors reporting crime at front offices."