CLOSURES of police stations across the West Mercia force area are inevitable, the chief constable has admitted.

During a live webcast yesterday, David Shaw said in difficult financial times he would rather keep bobbies on the beat than continue to fund all the existing buildings.

He said some stations are used two or three times a day and that “tough decisions” are going to be made over which ones shut down.

Deputy police and crime commissioner Barrie Sheldon also revealed a report is expected to be published within three weeks outlining the changes.

He also said commissioner Bill Longmore would visit every station personally and consult with residents before making the final decisions.

Mr Shaw said: “We’ve got some stations used two or three times a day, and that’s for very low level things such as producing documents – I cannot defend that when we could be using the money to put police on the streets.”

As your Malvern Gazette revealed last week, 140 police officer jobs are being axed by 2016, as well as 315 civilian jobs.