A Cheshire East councillor is urging residents to take part in a consultation about plans to close police helpdesks in 11 towns across the county.

Cheshire Police wants to close helpdesks at stations in towns including Congleton, Knutsford, Winsford, Nantwich, Chester Town Hall, Ellesmere Port, Stockton Heath, Penketh, Runcorn, and Wilmslow.

Under the new proposals a helpdesk service would be provided at police stations in Blacon, Crewe, Warrington, Widnes and Macclesfield.

These would be open to the public between 8am and 5pm from Monday to Saturday. In addition, a virtual video link to a helpdesk officer will be available within the same opening hours at Northwich Police Station.

The changes are likely to be finalised after the end of this month, unless there is strong public opposition which leads to a u-turn.

Cllr Mick Warren, chair of Cheshire East's environment and communities committee, said the council had no influence over the survey as it was a police matter.

"It is a survey that's open from March 14 to March 27. It's called the Police Helpdesk Survey 22 and get all your residents to participate in that," said Independent Macclesfield East Councillor Mick Warren.

"It also affects other wards. It's a reduction from 16 helpdesks down to five, so Congleton, Wilmslow, Knutsford and Nantwich, are proposed to be closed."

He urged all Cheshire East councillors to 'highlight this survey to your residents, to get them to fill the form in'.

The matter was raised with urgency Cheshire East Council by Cllr Rob Moreton (Congleton East, Independent).

He told the council: "Residents in Congleton are concerned that the police helpdesk is under consideration for closure.

"Obviously, I encourage everybody to take part and fill out these consultations, but the people of Congleton don't have much faith in the process. 

"A classic example is the closing down of our refuse centre, which myself and the town council continue to fight to get a new one open."

Residents in Congleton would now have to come to Macclesfield if they wanted in-person police discourse.

Cllr Moreton asked for reassurances that feedback from the consultation would be listened to.

Cheshire Police has said the proposals would not reduce the level of service.

In a statement issued when the consultation opened last month, Assistant Chief Constable Bill Dutton said: "I would like to reassure the public that these proposals will not reduce the level of service or the current police presence in Cheshire.

"Our operational teams and where we deploy our police officers and police community support officers from are unaffected."

He added: "We have noticed that more people than ever are now choosing to report crime and interact with police online or via a mobile device, and as a police service we have to adapt to these changes in our society.

"It is important to reiterate that we are not proposing to close any police stations, and although some helpdesks would close under these proposals, these will be substituted by regular Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) surgeries."

Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer said: "I want people to have confidence in our police service so it's vital that everyone has their say on these proposals.

"More people are interacting with the police online but I want to make it clear that the constabulary's visible presence will increase.

"The chief constable and I are steadfast in our commitment to increasing the police presence across Cheshire by taking our officer numbers to their highest ever level on our current boundaries – a total of 2,347.

"We are investing in our force control centre, bringing 101 waiting times down and getting officers out quicker to both 999 and 101 calls.

In a previous statement, Mr Dwyer has said: "Since helpdesks were introduced in 2004 the landscape has changed significantly. A large proportion of the population have mobile phones and access to online services meaning the need for face-to-face contact is reducing.

"We have noticed that more people than ever are now choosing to report crime and interact with police online or via a mobile device, and as a police service we have to adapt to these changes in our society.

"It is important to reiterate that we are not proposing to close any police stations, and although some helpdesks would close under these proposals, these will be substituted by regular Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) surgeries.

"The savings we make will be reinvested into our force contact centre, helping improve our response times in answering 999 and 101 calls, which is a key priority for the Constabulary."

While Macclesfield will not lose anything in the cuts - rather gain - residents are still welcome to have their say.

For more information on the proposals and to have your say, please visit this webpage.

See Also: Macclesfield: Council tax rise confirmed in 'heated' discussion

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