FALLING morale, serious staffing problems and fears of deteriorating service are all affecting West Craven's police officers, the Craven Herald has learnt.

Reliable sources close to the police have told the Herald that a combination of sick leave, officers quitting the force, training courses and holidays means staffing levels at Barnoldswick are at a new low - with as few as a dozen constables plus one sergeant. The official figure should be around 19 constables plus a sergeant.

The shortage in manpower means that for any eight hour daytime shift there might be as few as four officers on duty to cover the whole of West Craven, and only two on the other night-time, evening or early morning shifts for an area with a population numbering around 20,000.

Some of West Craven's longer serving officers remember a time just a few years ago when Barnoldswick boasted a full complement of 24 constables, four sergeants and its own inspector.

Since then, and despite the town's new police station opening just six years ago, there has been a strong perception of a steady erosion of West Craven-based police cover.

Already people in West Craven making non-emergency calls to the police go through to the communications centre at Burnley, when in the past they could ring Barnoldswick station direct. And the high-tech station at Barnoldswick, described when it opened as the police station for the next century, is now only open to the public from 8am to 7pm.

At the time of its opening, police chiefs confidently predicted the new station, on Fernlea Avenue, would serve the area for a hundred years, just as the old station on Manchester Road had done. But local councillors have repeatedly voiced fears for its future after seeing the station's role steadily diminish over recent years.

Even some young officers are quitting the force, disillusioned with the increasing pressures on them, while many older officers hark back to better times and count off the days to retirement.

The staff shortages at Barnoldswick make a mockery of the new and much-publicised system of "Geographical Policing". Under that system West Craven is divided up into 20 beats, with each one assigned to a particular officer. It looks good on paper, but officers complain that without the necessary manpower the system just can't work.

Already most officers at Barnoldswick are having to "double up", taking on two beats instead of one. That obviously halves the time they can devote to each beat and hampers the aim of building community links and continuity of cover.

Local officers have also expressed the fear that the time is coming when they will have to "parade on" - start their shift - at Colne or even farther afield, and only then will it be decided where in Pendle to deploy them.The fear of West Craven's police officers is that unless measures are taken quickly to ease the crisis, it can only get worse.

However, Inspector Jeff Brown, the Geographical Inspector for Colne and Barnoldswick, said those measures were being taken. He went a long way towards explaining the current situation and easing local concerns.

His main point was that Colne and Barnoldswick together form one geographical area in terms of policing, and no part of that area should be looked at on its own.

"You cannot look at Barnoldswick in isolation," explained Insp Brown. "It forms part of the Colne and Barnoldswick geographical area, and Colne and Barnoldswick in turn form part of the rest of the division.

"Over the past few months I have had to deal with some quite acute sickness and staffing problems at Barnoldswick, but at the times when it's needed, support is provided from Colne and from the rest of the division by making use of central resources."

Those included extra officers, police dog handlers and even the force's helicopter which had been deployed in West Craven on several occasions.

Insp Brown added that he was in the process of addressing Barnoldswick's particular problems as part of a broader management plan for the geographical area.

"In the long term my plan is to balance and redress any shortfall at Barnoldswick, but in the meantime support is always available from Colne and the rest of the division."

He also quashed fears that West Craven officers would "parade on" at Colne: "That's never going to happen," he said. "There are no plans to have anyone from Barnoldswick starting their shift at Colne."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.