We are deeply concerned by the recent proposal to restrict the hours of Wishaw Police Station.

The residents of Wishaw, Newmains and other nearby areas served by Wishaw Police Station deserve better than a part-time police station that forces them to travel to other towns. Wishaw is a large town, not a small village, and merits the round the clock availability of a police station that is afforded to other towns of a comparable size.

This is not simply a matter of the ability of citizens to visit a police station when they need to do so. The station is also an important element of the police presence in the community. Downgrading the hours of operation of the station downgrades the availability of the police, and hence the deterrence value implicit in the police maintaining a strong public profile. Cutting corners by closing Wishaw Police Station overnight undermines and detracts from frontline public contact, and we therefore ask that there is no reduction in the operation of Wishaw Police Station.