Skipton Police Station will lose its control room in May, the Herald can reveal.

The control room was earmarked for closure nearly four years ago but the move has been continually delayed.

From May 7, all telephone calls for Skipton officers will be answered by staff at a central office in Newby Wiske, Northallerton.

The announcement has raised concern among members of Skipton's Shop Watch radio system, who fear for the continued success of its scheme without a control room in in the town.

At the moment, Shop Watch members are linked via radios and can pass information to each other about shoplifters or troublemakers in the town.

A radio is also kept in the police control room so the shopkeepers can get in touch with an officer straight away in an emergency.

Members raised their concerns at a recent Shop Watch meeting. They were all worried about whether the service would run as effectively when the control room went. And although they know that there will be changes no-one has told them what they will be.

Chief Inspector Nick Smedley told the Herald the radio would still be kept at the police station and be answered by someone on the front reception desk.

He said that if an officer was needed immediately the receptionist could call the control room at Newby Wiske who would deploy an officer from Skipton.

The delay in getting an officer to the scene would only be the length of time it took the person on the front desk at Skipton to call the control room at Newby Wiske.

"The delay would be seconds," he said. "We are not in the business of reducing quality of service. The move should be transparent to the shops."

He added that it could even be argued that the Shop Watch members would get a better service as the person on the front desk would not be as busy as the control room staff.

The front desk will be manned from 8am to 8pm every day.

The control room is being closed and moved to Newby Wiske as part of a reorganisation strategy. Two control rooms in York and Newby Wiske will serve the whole of North Yorkshire.

Chief Insp Smedley said the force would join "Airwave", a national communications system which every force in the country was taking on, and eventually it would offer better compatibility and communication between the different forces.

He said that, in theory, improved technology should mean members of the public calling for Skipton police officers would not notice where the call was being answered. The only difference would be that if an officer was needed he would be contacted from the control at Newby Wiske rather than Skipton.

"It will make no difference to the delivery of service in theory," he said.

Chief Insp Smedley said it was lucky that the town's CCTV cameras were not being monitored from the control at Skipton and would not be affected by the move.