Ribble Valley Council Policy and Finance Committee voted to urge the Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner to reverse his proposal to close the front desk at Clitheroe Police Station . 

The motion proposed by Council leader Councillor  Ken Hind was passed overwhelmingly by the committee .

Deputy Leader of RVBC Councillor Paul Elms also Vice Chairman of the Police and Crime panel commented ''Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner  announced a review of police station front desks, including Clitheroe. 'We are obviously very concerned about these plans.’ 

‘Clitheroe police station has the last remaining front desk in the Ribble Valley following the closure of Longridge. Ribble Valley is the largest borough in Lancashire. The closure of the front desk at Clitheroe would mean that a resident of one of our outlying areas would have to travel almost an hour to get to a police front desk. This is just not acceptable. 

''The residents of the Ribble Valley pay their police precept, just like everyone else .We are seeing the dismantling of policing in the rural areas, and particularly in the Ribble Valley. The Ribble Valley has lost it’s CID, its response officers and it’s dedicated management. The front desk is the last straw and I would urge the Commissioner to think again.''
 

Councillor Elms added that the Council has recently had assurance's that the building itself would remain open as a police base from which the Council funded PCSO's  operate .

The motion urged the Police Commissioner to reverse his decision to consider  closure of Clitheroe front desk  and  instructed the Council Chief Executive to write to him and all Parish and Town Councils in the Ribble Valley setting out the council's  position.