Cumbria police station counters to close as public visits fall

Cumbria Police is closing front counters at a number of its stations.

The desk at Brampton will shut on Saturday while the force confirmed counters at Cockermouth and Windermere would not reopen having closed in 2020.

Meanwhile, a front counter will be opened at Penrith and there will be changes to opening hours at Carlisle, Kendal and Barrow police stations.

The force said there had been a big drop-off in the number of people visiting stations in person.

A force spokeswoman said the changes would save about £300,000 but all the affected stations would "remain fully operational and functioning" with officers continuing to work at them.

The counter on Hunter Lane in Penrith is being opened due to "significant investment" to make it a "main deployment base" for response, neighbourhood, CID and intelligence officers with "demand anticipated" for front counter services.

Det Supt Dan St Quintin said the force was "adapting to meet the changing behaviour of the public".

Front counters were used more than 100,000 times in 2014 but that dropped to 13,000 last year, he said.

"People are now less and less likely to seek to come to a police station to report a matter."

He said the change in behaviour was "accelerated" by the coronavirus pandemic with more people becoming "accustomed to communicating online".

He also said neighbourhood policing teams would "advertise opportunities" for people to meet officers in person.

Further details of services at the various stations can be found on the force's website.

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].