A Penrith man who says he helped a woman access support at Penrith’s Hunter Lane police station while its front counter was closed, has called for the station’s opening hours to be extended in order to serve the community better.
Cumbria police have responded, reaffirming their commitment to community policing, and urging victims of crime to phone 999 at the first opportunity.
Stephen Barton, 71, was passing by the station one Saturday morning before Christmas, when he spotted a woman in distress trying to gain help. The station’s front counter was closed to the public at the time, although the station had officers inside.
“This lady could not access the police,” Mr Barton said. “She wanted to speak to a police officer and she couldn’t. She was standing on the steps, crying, shaking. I couldn’t walk past, and so I approached her and said ‘can I help?’”
The woman told Mr Barton she had been assaulted and robbed and and had been unable to get an answer after knocking on the door of the police station.
“I took her around to the side door, banged on the side door. Still no response. Went around the back, knocked on the back. Came around to the side. Banged on all the windows and eventually a bobby put his head around the door. I explained to him that this young lady had been assaulted and robbed.
“And she could not get in because the door was locked. He took her in and I left it at that. But it bugged me that she was so distressed that she was going to walk away, which is wrong.”
The front counter at Hunter Lane police station reopened to the public in 2023. According to Cumbria police’s website it is now open 9am-1pm Monday to Friday. Mr Barton believes the counter opening times should be improved, bearing in mind the station is in regular use by officers.
“I don’t see any reason why if the station is manned, why that front door should not be open. I think that door should be open. I think they could increase the opening hours. I think it should be open at the weekends. I think it should be open seven days a week.”
The reopening of Hunter Lane was against a trend of closing local police desks in the county, including counters at Cockermouth and Windermere that were closed in 2020 and have remained so.
Following the Herald’s request for an update, a Cumbria police spokesman said: “If you are a victim of a serious crime you should call 999 immediately.
“Police officers in Cumbria are working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you call 999 your call will be answered and you will be speaking to a police officer within seconds. An officer will then be able to deal with the incident straight away rather than wait for someone to attend a police station to report the matter.”
On the opening hours, the spokesman added: “The constabulary is constantly adapting to meet the changing behaviour of the public.
“In 2014, the constabulary saw its front counters utilised more than 100,000 times. In 2022 this number had fallen to around 13,000 — and a high proportion of those visiting front counters did so for a non-policing purpose.
“People are now less and less likely to seek to come to a police station to report a matter. However, we are still keen for those who wish to speak to the police in person to have the option to do so.
“This has seen the reinstatement of the front counter, open to the public, at Hunter Lane in recent years. Previously this had not been the case.
“This was reopened because significant investment has been made in Hunter Lane as a main deployment base with response, neighbourhood, CID and intelligence officers working from there.
“Cumbria police is committed to neighbourhood policing, which remains firmly at the heart of the organisation.”
