Gwent Police to reopen seven stations closed in 2012

The reopened stations and longer hours at others will be within existing budgets

Gwent Police is to reopen seven police stations which closed in 2012 as part of money-saving measures and extend the opening hours of two more.

Stations to open from 09:00-17:00 Monday to Friday include Maindee in Newport along with Caerphilly, Ystrad Mynach and Risca in Caerphilly county.

The same hours will apply to Pontypool, Torfaen, and Chepstow and Monmouth in Monmouthshire.

The hours at Abertillery and Brynmawr in Blaenau Gwent, will be extended.

The two stations, currently open for a few hours each week, will open for two or three days each week.

All the stations were among 17 front desks the police force closed almost two years ago leaving just Newport Central open 24 hours a day.

The closures, along with a cut of 19 front desk jobs, were aimed at saving £500,000 as the force faced making £34m in budget savings by 2015.

The decision to reopen the police stations was taken at a meeting of Gwent Police and Crime Panel in Usk on Friday.

'Budgets'

Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner Ian Johnston said the move fell within current budgets and would be reviewed after 12 months and a public consultation.

In a statement, Mr Johnston said the proposal followed continued public demand.

He said: "I have attended over 400 meetings with the public since coming into office.

"The closure of police stations and accessibility to them has been high on the agenda for many of our communities in Gwent."