BRIDPORT: News that the town’s police enquiry office has been saved following heavy county cuts has been met with approval by the leader of the town council.

Counter service provision has been reduced from 15 to nine locations, with four full-time enquiry offices remaining – in Bridport, Bournemouth, Poole, and Wey-mouth.

The initial review of station desk enquiry offices found that only a small proportion of visits related to policing matters. Findings showed that in the five-year period, 2009 to 2013, some offices received on average less than seven visits a day from members of the public.

Cllr Sarah Williams, leader of Bridport Town Council, said: “The announcement that there is to be a full time police enquiry counter service in Bridport is very good news.

She added: “Whilst the police station itself was not in danger of closure, the town council had raised its concerns when the public enquiry service was reduced at the station and it has been working with the police, to see what options there could be to continue to provide this important service.

“The town council greatly appreciates the work of the Bridport police officers, who work closely with us, and it looks forward to hearing more details about how the enquiry service is to be delivered.”

In a statement Bridport Police said that officers and staff were ‘extremely pleased with this decision as we know the sterling work our front desk colleagues do to support policing and engagement with the community’.

Speaking at the announcement of the cuts last week, Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill said: “This decision has been one of the most challenging faced by Dorset Police in recent memory and, needless to say, it is not one that has been taken lightly.

“I know that six front office counters are six too many, but we have to meet our cuts somewhere when we are losing 20 per cent of our budget.”

The estates review was set up in 2010 to find savings in the Dorset Police Force. The Force needs to find further savings of £9.5 million by 2015, the result of continued reductions in central government funding.