A BARNOLDSWICK councillor has reacted angrily to news that neighbourhood policing teams are set to be halved in the latest round of cuts to local police services in Lancashire.

Pendle Liberal leader, Cllr David Whipp said: “I am shocked that neighbourhood policing teams are being pushed beyond breaking point with the number of community beat managers cut to half of the present establishment. In Pendle, just six warranted officers will remain from a team of 13 when these cuts are implemented in October.

“I’m angry that the very successful Lancashire neighbourhood police model will be chucked on the scrap heap and that ‘bobbies on the beat’ will be consigned to history. This is a massive mistake by the constabulary.

“I’ve submitted an emergency resolution for this week’s meeting of Pendle Council and hope to get unanimous support for a proposal asking the police to think again about their plans.”

Lancashire Constabulary has carried out a review of ‘Core Services’ and decided to re-allocate police officers from neighbourhood policing into other roles in the force. Response officer numbers will increase by 55, whilst 15 extra officers will be drafted into CID and the numbers in targeting teams will be doubled. At the same time, 50 extra staff will be added to call handling teams to deal with the growing number of 999 and 101 calls.

In Pendle, the downside is that the number of CBM posts in neighbourhood policing teams will drop from 13 to just six.

“I’m all in favour of increased investment in policing, but it needs to be real investment – not just shuffling police officers from one job to another,” said Cllr Whipp. “The damage to local policing is likely to be terminal, with no effective presence left on the streets of Lancashire. This is a major blow to local communities throughout the county.”

Cllr Whipp has submitted the following emergency resolution to this week’s full Pendle Council meeting:

“Pendle Council notes with great alarm the news that Neighbourhood Policing teams in Pendle are to suffer huge cuts, with the number of Community Beat Manager posts reduced from 13 to 6.

“The council believes the latest round of cuts will mean overstretched police officers won’t be able to provide any meaningful neighbourhood policing.

“The council resolves to make urgent representations to Lancashire’s Chief Constable, the Police and Crime Commissioner, Pendle’s MP and the Home Office calling for a review of these changes which effectively scrap the area’s neighbourhood policing.”