A SOMERSET MP has hit out against the police and crime commissioner (PCC) over fears Minehead’s police station could face closure. 

Ian Liddell-Grainger, Member of Parliament for Bridgwater and West Somerset, is calling on Sue Mountstevens, Avon and Somerset PCC to “come clean” on closure plans. 

Minehead Police Station is one of 13 under review as the police force faced cuts of £60m over the last four years, with a further £17m needing to be found. 

Mr Liddell-Grainger says he is “gravely concerned” by reports the station will close by the end of the year, with personnel moving to Williton, leaving the town with no permanent police presence. He fears response times could be as long as 40 minutes. 

The MP says that it would be “utterly unacceptable” for the town to have no stationed officers, as its 12,000 population swells to nearly 20,000 in the summer months. 

“The last thing we were told was that the police station would close but a new joint police and ambulance centre would be created in the old Territorial Army Hall – in 2017,” he said.

“We are two-thirds of the way through 2017 and there is no sign of that happening and my information from internal sources is that there will be no police office of any kind in Minehead once the police station closes.

“This has all the hallmarks of something planned by people who have no knowledge of the local area. The roads between Taunton, Williton and Minehead are substandard and badly overcrowded. Two-mile queues of holiday traffic are a weekly occurrence.

“Anyone who thinks because Minehead is only eight miles away it can be covered by a unit in Williton has clearly never been down here in the summer. I honestly have to question whether the chief constable even knows where West Somerset is.

“We often have zero police night cover already in West Somerset and if the withdrawal to Williton goes through it is inevitable, with the divisional boundaries now removed, officers based there will be called in to help police Taunton and Bridgwater.

“If there is then an emergency at the far end of the district, in Porlock, it will be the best part of an hour before any police can attend. This is completely unacceptable and I shall now be asking for a full explanation from the Police and Crime Commissioner as to how she intends the system to work without leaving Minehead even more vulnerable to lawlessness.”

He says the closure plans should be explained now, rather than being presented later as a “fait accompli”. 

Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens said: “Let’s be clear the police are not leaving Minehead and I have always said that the town deserves a strong policing presence. In 2014 the Constabulary identified Minehead Police Station as being too big for its needs and not value for money.

“The Constabulary is looking at alternative options to ensure the neighbourhood policing team remains in the heart of the town. We are in discussion with partners to explore the option of co-location near the town centre, so that a new police base is more accessible, convenient and cost-effective and I hope we can make an announcement soon.

"I know how important the neighbourhood policing team is to the local people of Minehead. I want to reassure residents that despite a re-location, there will be no change to the number of police officers and PCSO’s across West Somerset and no change to the service they have a right to expect.”