THE police station at Lyme Regis has once again opened its doors to the public.
Lyme Regis Town Council was invited to meet with officers from Dorset Police at the station in Hill Road, which will be open for two days a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays as a trial.
Dorset Police has re-opened the front desk to be more accessible and better serve the people of Dorset and the days have been chosen to compliment existing opening hours in other county stations, including Bridport.
The mayor, Cllr David Sarson, former chairman of the Tourism, Community and Publicity Committee, Cllr Cheryl Reynolds, and town clerk John Wright were invited to the station to meet with the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) David Sidwick and Joe Deeprose of Dorset Police.
West Dorset MP Chris Loder was also invited to the re-opening, as well as Dorset Council ward member Cllr Belinda Bawden.
The front desk has also re-opened at the Blandford station.
Mr Sidwick said: “I’m delighted to see local front desks opening up across the county again. It’s a priority of my Police and Crime Plan to make policing more ‘visible and connected’ to the people and communities it serves, and this contact option will give back to the public the opportunity to go and speak face-to-face with the police.
“I have been pushing Dorset Police hard ever since I became PCC to get some front desks open again – after all, it’s what the people of Dorset told me they wanted – local, accountable, old-fashioned policing, because there are times when speaking with someone direct, to report a crime, to share community intelligence or to get some help and advice is what’s needed.”
Superintendent Pete Browning from the Force Command Centre said: “Continuing to improve the visibility and accessibility of Dorset Police is a priority for the force.
“We appreciate that people prefer to engage with police in different ways, so it is vital that we provide different options accessible to our communities.
“Opening another police station to the public will provide the local community with another contact option, which will improve the convenience of contacting the police and strengthen the service we offer to our public.”
As well as offering more availability to attend police stations, Dorset Police is bringing local police into communities at Community Contact Points.
This is a way for members of the pubic to meet their local officers, report crime and incidents, or discuss issues that are important to them with a police officer, face-to-face.
These Community Contact Points are drop-in events scheduled across the whole of the county.
To date, Dorset Police has delivered 27 Community Contact Points across the force area, in Verwood, Ferndown, Swanage, North Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
The opportunity to meet local policing teams are advertised on the Dorset Police website and local social media platforms.
For more information, please enter your postcode at www.dorset.police.uk to find your local neighbourhood policing team.
There you will find information about the up-and-coming Community Contact Point opportunities and details of how to follow your local team on social media.
A full list of Dorset Police stations open to the public can be found at www.dorset.police.uk/contact/find-a-police-station