Cllr Sylvia Russell, chairman of the finance and general purposes committee, Teignmouth Town Council, writes:

I feel I must respond to Roy Phillips' comments about the closure of the Neighbourhood Police Station in Teignmouth and I can assure him that the town council has been making strong representations about this since we were first informed that the face to face front desk facility in Wellington Street was to cease.   

When our main police station and magistrates' court in Carlton Place were sold for redevelopment the town council was assured that a neighbourhood Cop Shop would be opened in the High Street and that the public would notice a greatly-increased police presence in the Town.    

The town council responded by agreeing to set up its own CCTV system to assist the police.

With continual upgrading of the system and a team of volunteers monitoring the screens, residents can be confident  that we are still working with the police to assist crime prevention.

The decision to close the Neighbourhood shop in Wellington Street was  presented to us as a fait accompli some months ago as the decision had already been made.    

Since then the town council has been working with the police to find a way to maintain a presence in the town and  we continue to supply the police with information from CCTV as requested and at no cost to the police.   

We have always had a good relationship with our police inspector and his staff and there is no doubt that we do have an increased visible police presence in the town.    

As councillors we collectively made strong representations to the former Police Authority, as did many other towns across Devon when the current changes to front desk services first saw the light of day, but as a town council we will continue to work with the police to find the best solutions for the people of this town.

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