The mayor of Hungerford has expressed dismay at “potentially catastrophic” changes to local policing.
In a double blow, the town will reportedly be losing a long-serving sergeant to Reading.
Helen Simpson
And the Hungerford area will soon be grouped together with Thatcham – thus creating an ever bigger region for the neighbourhood team to police.
At this month’s full town council meeting, mayor Helen Simpson told colleagues: “[This] will be a huge blow to our community.
“The Thatcham sergeant will now look after Hungerford and Downlands as well as Thatcham.
“This is a huge area to cover and will result in Hungerford getting the worst outcome.
“This is really concerning for the town; we’re, what – 18 miles from Thatcham?
“We’re always saying we need more police, not less.”
Mrs Simpson added: “I have promised the team I will be contacting the police and crime commissioner (PCC) and Thames Valley Police to try and overturn this decision.”
Newburytoday contacted PCC Matthew Barber to ask his views but he declined to comment and referred any queries back to Thames Valley Police.
Mrs Simpson described the latest proposals as “potentially catastrophic” for policing in the town.
She went on: “It would mean our sergeant being sent most probably to Reading and he’s one of the best we’ve had for a while; he really cares about the community he polices and has certainly been very helpful to us as a council when we’ve raised concerns.”
She added: “Even worse, we could be grouped as Hungerford, Downlands and Thatcham – I’ve been tipped off this is happening because of insufficient funding from central Government.”
Thames Valley Police said in a statement: “As a part of our change, Hungerford will be a part of the new Berkshire West Local Command Unit.
“All of our neighbourhood teams will remain in place as before, with additional officers in many parts of the Thames Valley.”