Brighouse police station stays open – for now

The police station in Brighouse is staying open for now. The police station situated on Bradford Road re-opened as part of a pilot scheme in September following a campaign by councillors and members of the public.

West Yorkshire police have now secured extra funding which means the trial will be extended. The scheme was due to end this month.

Brighouse made it clear that they needed a police station. The building had been abandoned for three years.

Chief Supt Alan Ford, Divisional Commander for Calderdale, said: "The fact that we have managed to secure extra funds I hope will be seen as good news."

Chief Supt has been working really hard behind the scenes with Inspector Mohammed Nawaz, who heads the Lower Valley Neighbourhood Policing Team. Together they have managed to secure extra funding to keep it open until the end of March.

He is hopeful he will be able to secure funding to keep it open in the future. "I can't make any promises but I'm working my hardest and I'm hopeful I will be able to secure funding to keep it going," he said.

He understood that keeping the police station open was important to people in Brighouse and indications were that it was improving public confidence.

"I don't want it to close and I don't imagine the community want it to either," said Chief Supt Ford.

Insp Nawaz said he was pleased that every effort was being made to keep the station open when the demand was highest. "It is our intention to keep the contact point open for longer than the next two months," he said. "We are desperately trying to get that extra funding and are looking at different avenues."

Coun Colin Stout (Ind, Brighouse) welcomed the decision. "There has been a lot of work put in by Insp Nawaz and local councillors to try and keep it as a viable option and if we can keep it open until the swimming pool and other developments in that area are complete that might help it as well."

In the meantime people of Brighouse are encouraged to use the police station which is open Monday to Friday from 1pm.

Sourced: Brighouse Echo