A RETURN of regular public forums in Frodsham to discuss community policing has been called for by town leaders.

Frodsham Town Councillor Frank Pennington said: “We have fewer officers now and our police station has become a canteen for motorway police.”

Criticising the level of policing in Frodsham, Cllr Pennington told last week’s town council meeting: “I’m sorry to have to say it, but it’s disgusting.”

His outburst came after Cllr Tony Hinkins told the meeting that Frodsham Police Inspector Phil Hodgson was now providing the council with statistics along with “extremely good verbal reports” on incidents and police work in the town.

“These figures can be a bit scary – for instance, they show there were 11 incidents of violent crime in Frodsham North in August,” said Cllr Hinkins. “But the weekly reports and updates really do tell us what’s happening, and there’s an old theory that you can’t control something unless you can measure it.

Inspector Hodgson said Cllr Pennington’s comments were “ill-advised and factually incorrect.”

He said: “Society has changed immeasurably and policing has had to move with it, and I don’t think it’s the best use of an officer’s time to be sitting at a front desk all day.

“I actually have more officers working from Frodsham Police Station, because of the demand, than I have at the other two stations I deal with. This station is a sort of staging post and I’m quite happy for motorway and other officers to use it because they do help us out and give a presence.

“I’m also very grateful to the town council for funding a police community support officer, who has been very successful and enhanced policing in the area.”