PSNI to close 11 front desks in stations

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is to close the enquiry offices at 11 stations.

The "front desks" are open to the public and there are 28 of them across Northern Ireland.

Four stations in Belfast are among the 11 set to lose their enquiry office. Bangor, Dungannon and Waterside stations are also on the list.

Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said the current service was "neither sustainable nor effective".

An extensive review of the service included an analysis of the volume and type of demand in enquiry offices, he said, and the decision to close some of them was taken in the context of "unprecedented financial pressure".

"This is not a decision we have taken lightly and we are conscious there may be an actual or perceived loss of accessibility, visibility and ability to respond to the needs of the community," he said.

"The chief constable has been clear for some time that difficult decisions are going to have to be taken," he said.

"The police service is shrinking and as a result, the level of service the public can expect to see is going to change."

The commissioner designate for victims of crime, Geraldine Hanna, said "supporting victims must remain paramount in the minds of all of our police officers".

However, she said she respected that "difficult decisions have to be taken given the context of financial pressures".

"Victims I have engaged with in the past have highlighted the importance of good communication from our police service," she said.

"A big part of that often comes down to visibility.

"It is vitally important for victims of crime that the quality of service they receive does not diminish in any way and that all victims have accessible means to contact the police service."

Liam Kelly, from the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, said affected communities would view the decision "with dismay and disappointment".

However, he described the decision as part of the "inevitable consequence of budget pressures".

The offices marked for closure are located at the following stations:

While the enquiry offices at these stations will not longer be operating, the police stations themselves will not be closing.

The timescale for these closures is not yet clear, but it is understood they will likely close within the next three months.

The offices are operated by station enquiry assistants, who are employed by a third party private sector contractor.