SURREY Police’s decision to close its only ‘front counter’ service for Waverley residents has been branded “disgusting” by a former police officer, in light of the proposed 5.3 per cent increase to Surrey Police’s share of council tax.

The Waverley Neighbourhood Police Team’s public desk at The Bury’s council offices in Godalming will close on March 31 as part of the force’s ongoing cost-cutting programme.

It means there will no longer be a fixed location for residents to meet police officers in Waverley, with Farnham’s nearest police front-counter now located in Guildford.

However, Surrey Police are adamant that the change will not affect the current set-up of Waverley’s neighbourhood team, which will retain a base at The Bury’s as well as locally at Farnham fire station.

Residents will also, the force added, be able to contact neighbourhood offices by phone and online.

A police spokesman said: “As part of the continual drive to ensure that Surrey Police can deliver a policing service as efficiently as possible, and recognising the ongoing budget challenges, it is important to review our overall estate including the locations we share with our borough partners.

“In 2011, Surrey Police reduced the number of front counters to 12, this has recently been assessed to monitor the demand on those 12 and there are five which are consistently seeing on average 1.5 people, or fewer, per hour.”

The spokesman continued: “To close any front counter is not a decision taken lightly and it is recognised that when it comes to accessing our service one size does not fit all, however we have a responsibility to be as efficient with our funding as we can be.

“Over the coming weeks further information will be shared within the local communities, where the closures are taking place, to explain the alternatives to a front counter provision.”

Condemning the closures, borough councillor Robert Knowles, who worked for Surrey Police for 39 years as an officer and a civilian staff member, said: “I was a superintendent at Godalming when there were 40 to 50 officers, including 10 sergeants.

“I’m disgusted that now there will not even be a front counter for Waverley. Waverley is the largest borough district in Surrey and we will no longer be able to see the police there.

“Surrey Police Crime Commissioner David Munro now wants to put the tax up, myself and many others I know, have responded to the consultation to say we object. What are they doing for us?”

Responding to the latest cost-cutting proposals, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, David Munro said: “Surrey Police are faced with having to make significant savings of £5.3m over the next year and we have a duty to make the policing service in Surrey as efficient as possible for our residents. Inevitably within that, some difficult choices have to be made.

“I can assure residents that the provision of front counters across the county has been examined in detail in terms of the number of people using them on a daily basis and the subsequent decision to close some locations has been given very careful consideration.

“In the current financial climate in which police forces operate, we must ensure every pound counts and the public get value for money from their local force.

“I will be paying close attention going forward to make sure that those alternative ways local communities in these areas can access their local policing service are working as effectively as possible.”

Mr Munro, a former Farnham councillor, has also proposed a 5.3 per cent increase to Surrey Police’s share of council tax in 2018/19 - £12 on a Band D council tax bill - to “help protect front line policing” and “create a more sustainable service”.