A campaign to save Yeovil’s police station has been launched by Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) candidate Mark Weston and Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh. Under plans being mooted by the Constabulary offenders will need to be transported from Yeovil to the custody suite in Bridgwater. This will take valuable officer time and reduce the police's ability to respond to the needs of the local and surrounding communities.
Mr Weston is calling on PCC Sue Mountstevens to guarantee the police station will stay open and added: "South Somerset's Police should be spending their time on the streets dealing with local crime such as anti-social behaviour and drugs offences. They should not be spending large portions of their shifts shuttling to and from Bridgwater. I want our police out fighting crime not running a glorified taxi service, and I bet local police officers share this view as well."
Mr Fysh added: “If the police station closes then it will be a real blow for my constituency. Local residents want to be safe and feel it, and that means keeping the police on the streets, not running up the mileage because of a poorly thought through cost-cutting exercise. The Government has protected the police budget, it’s now up to the Commissioner to protect Yeovil police station.” He added: “Keeping the police station is the best way to maximise deployment of front-line police around our area. I’d like them to make further progress addressing crime and anti-social behaviour. With growth in South Somerset, it should be an asset we build on and it may be that there are costs we can share by working more closely with neighbouring Police Authorities, for example in Dorset."
In 2012 Yeovil police station’s front office underwent a £495,000 renovation (Western Gazette, 19 June 2014, link) and now three years later the Commissioner is considering closing it as part of a force-wide plan to save money. Mr Weston added: “I believe that this would prove a false economy. The amount of time spent moving criminals around will be staggering and actually provide a disincentive for pro-active policing. The journey is 50 minutes on a good day. If you hit traffic then it will take a lot longer. This move doesn't make sense from a policing or economic point of view and I hope that the Commissioner can rule it out once and for all.”