WISBECH: 200 sign petition to save town's police cells which Tories say could lead to masssive chang
MORE than 200 people signed a petition in Wisbech on Saturday to save the town s police cells from closure. The petition was organised by Steve Barclay, prospective Parliamentary Conservative candidate for NE Cambs, and follows revelations by this newspap
MORE than 200 people signed a petition in Wisbech on Saturday to save the town's police cells from closure.
The petition was organised by Steve Barclay, prospective Parliamentary Conservative candidate for NE Cambs, and follows revelations by this newspaper that replacement cells are being prepared in March.
But in coming years, once a new police station opens in Kings Lynn, the cells will move across the border into Norfolk- a position Mr Barclay says is untenable.
He also revealed what he believes to be a split emerging between Government departments over the future use of cells at Wisbech.
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"We were told the Home Office had deemed the cells unsafe from a health and safety position due to the stairs," he said. "However Her Majesty's Court Service intend to continue using two of the cells for the magistrates court on the days it is sitting,
and spent money on improvements to the cells only last year.
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"Why was this money spent if the cells are unsafe and due to close?"
Mr Barclay said the outcome would be that police officers will not be able
to use the Wisbech cells with prisoners, yet private contractors for the court
service will continue to do so, with the same prisoners.
"The Home Office now needs to come clean and admit that this closure is about cost cutting to save staffing a full time custody suite in Fenland and use cells in Norfolk
instead," he added.
