Nottinghamshire police station closure plans unveiled

Nottinghamshire Police has announced plans to close 12 police stations across the county.

The force is also proposing to shut down counter services at 23 stations, keeping 19 open.

Nottinghamshire Police said the stations earmarked for closure were hardly used by members of the public.

The plans follow a public consultation and the proposals will now be put before Nottinghamshire Police Authority on Wednesday for approval.

'Drain on funding'

The sale of buildings would raise about £880,000, the force said.

It would also save about £720,000 a year in rent and mean everyone in the county was no more than eight miles from a police station, the force added.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul Scarrott said: "It has been clear for some time that we have too many police stations across the county, some of which are hardly used any more by the public.

"These buildings are also old, they are expensive to maintain and are a drain on funding. We recognise that people now prefer to use other ways to contact the police rather than turning up at a station."

Officers would move into community buildings in six of the stations and the remaining staff would relocate back to the nearest available station.

Earlier this year the police authority supported plans to sell, or terminate lease agreements, on seven police contact points across the county.

Nottinghamshire Police is facing a funding shortfall of £10.3m in 2011/2012, following the government's spending review.