Police station demands for Dinnington ruled out

Dinnington is one of a dozen communities across South Yorkshire - with four in Rotherham - to have benefitted from £1m awarded by the Government to help tackle anti-social behaviour in the current year.

That cash is about to be exhausted, but Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings has confirmed a fresh cash award is expected for the 12 months ahead, pending the confirmation of some details.

He attended a meeting recently, a follow-up to a public meeting called over concerns about public behaviour in the area last October, alongside police officers who outlined details of the work being done in the district.

They were accompanied by a Rotherham Council officer and the meeting was told of the work being done in schools and with youth groups, as well as traditional patrol work, to try to control anti-social behaviour problems and crime.

Dr Billings said: “When officers are patrolling they may do more than simply provide a visible presence in order to deter - and ASB has fallen in the areas patrolled.

“They may also, for instance, stop and search individuals or vehicles,” he said.

Feedback from businesses in the high street had been positive about the results of policing activity in the area, he said.

But he acknowledged there was a desire among residents to see a police station created in the area - but said that was unaffordable, with officers using the Resource Centre as a drop-in point.

“I asked the estates team to work out the cost of acquiring premises or building a new station,” he said.

“This would involve making the building safe and installing a safe system of IT.

“The new build cost was £595,000. The purchase and convert cost was £325,000.

“The annual running costs for either would be circa £20,0000. We have no capital grants (money for such projects) any more so these sums would have to come from the police budget. Buildings or officers is the choice,” he said.

Consultation work across the county had suggested most people did not regard more small police stations as money well spent, he added.