Police base returns in Lutterworth following community concerns

Lutterworth Town Mayor David Jones cut the ribbon to officially open the new neighbourhood police office

A new police office has opened in a Leicestershire town following concerns raised by the community.

The office, at The Pavilion in Coventry Road, Lutterworth, officially opened on Monday - more than a decade after a police station closed in the town.

At a meeting last year, residents and the town council said they were worried about the lack of police presence.

Leicestershire Police said the base would allow officers to have a "more visible presence".

The force said the town's police station closed in 2013 as an "austerity measure" along with many others, but was pleased to see them "re-emerging".

The new office, which was officially opened by Lutterworth town mayor David Jones, is not yet open to the public but an online appointment booking system is being looked into, it added.

Officers living in the town will be based there, meaning they do not have to travel to and from nearby Market Harborough, and the office will also be used on a daily basis by response officers.

The office is not open yet to the public, but an online appointment booking system is being looked into

Lutterworth Town Council said the new base would help reduce response times "without the necessity of travelling from Market Harborough especially at night".

The authority added it would also allow residents to arrange appointments to "discuss concerns or raise issues relating to crime in and around Lutterworth and the surrounding villages as a centred approach".

Insp Liz Perry, the neighbourhood policing commander for Harborough and Wigston, said following the meeting in July, police worked with the town council to find a suitable location.

"Thanks to lots of hard work and support, we now have a brand-new office in The Pavilion right in the middle of Lutterworth, allowing my officers a more visible presence in the town," she said.