Ribble Valley Borough Council has offered to combine the council's CCTV system with the Clitheroe Police Station front office service in order to try keep the police station open to the public .

The offer was made in a meeting between the Labour Police Commissioner Clive Grunshaw , deputy leader of RVBC Councillor Paul Elms and RVBC Chief executive Marshal Scott .

Ken Hind RVBC council leader commented ''As a local authority we have to do all we can to prevent the police commissioner from what I see as continuing to retreat from rural policing. Commissioner Grunshaw has just announced the closure of police station front offices at Darwen, Colne, Barnoldwick and Waterfoot as well as reductions in service at Chorley, Accrington, Nelson, Burnley and both Blackburn stations. From this list he has excluded Clitheroe and announced he is negotiating with RVBC .The public should be in no doubt that we are certain that had it not been for our offer the Clitheroe police station front office closure would have been announced today."'

''In the Ribble Valley we have already lost Longridge police station and Clitheore police station is our last. The impact of closing Clitheroe is that in the largest rural borough in Lancashire , people seeking front desk help from the police or producing insurance certificates and MOT have to go to Blackburn, Preston Accrington or Burnley .This is not acceptable and we had to try and find a way to preserve the service.''

''The CCTV service covering cameras in Clitheroe ,Longridge and Whalley monitored 24 hours a day at an annual cost of £100,000 is paid for by the Ribble Valley Borough Council, along with some PCSOs. My view has always been that this is an exceptional tool in crime prevention and apprehension and should be a cost met by the police commissioner which it is not. In the interests of protecting the public and providing both services we have suggested the two services CCTV and Clitheroe police station front office should be amalgamated and located in the police station. Our intention is to save the police costs and to keep open Clitheroe police station front office for the public."

''We will happily continue to negotiate with the police commissioner over our proposal, consult with our councillors and give detailed consideration on how we can move the CCTV, the overall cost and impact on our staff .''

''We are happy to work with the Commissioner for the betterment of our residents but we reserve the right to point out to him that for every £5 collected by the police in council tax from Ribble Valley residents, only £1 is spent in the borough. We will also say we are carrying our share of the burden of crime prevention measures and accept our duty to local residents."