CONCERNS over emergency service cover in Alton remain largely unanswered following confirmation that all three services are doing the best they can with the resources available.

The response from fire, ambulance and police chiefs to questions put by AltonÕs Promotion and Marketing Forum have done little to assuage local fears that services based in the town are being deployed elsewhere, with more densely populated areas taking precedence.

While aware that finance was the governing factor, forum members were keen to acknowledge that all three services do a good job within confines which they themselves were obviously far from happy with.

It will be one of many questions forum member Peter Cansfield will be putting to Division Police Commander for Central Hampshire, Superintendent Bob Rose on Tuesday, October 22, during SpeakerÕs Corner, starting at 8 pm on Delta FM.

Mr Cansfield was among those who had expressed concern about the level of policing in the town and in particular the manning of the police station.

In response to these concerns, Alton Inspector Steve Mote had written to the forum assuring members that ÒAlton police station provides 24-hour cover every day of the year.

ÒIt is often thought that when the station closes we all go home. That is not the case at all and couldnÕt be further from the truth,Ó he said.

Due to staffing levels, the enquiry desk is not, however, open to the public on a round-the-clock basis. According to Inspector Mote, the station has three civilian station enquiry officers (SEOs) who provide cover between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm, seven days a week.

In June this year Alton lost one of its SEOs and the position was not filled until the end of July. During that time the station had tried to maintain normal enquiry desk cover using police officers but, due to peak annual leave time, this had proved Ònigh on impossible.

ÒThe bottom line is there is far more demand outside the police station for our services than ever there is at the front counter,Ó said the inspector.

He, however, is the first to acknowledge that the front counter provides the public with a personal interface with the police and is confident that now his SEOs are back to full strength, routine staffing of the front counter is back to normal.

ÒI would point out though that my SEOs take leave from time to time and on those occasions it will not always be possible to use police officers to cover for them,Ó he said.

Alton police station does, however, have a custody centre which is permanently staffed and in real emergencies, if there is no one else inside, the custody sergeant could go to the front counter, according to Inspector Mote who said that other non-emergencies should be directed to the control room at Netley by using the telephone at the door.

ÒI appreciate that this is not what everyone wants but at the end of the day our own analysis has shown that this is the best use of resources, given the constraints I have to work within.Ó

Speaking on behalf of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, in his letter Alton station commander sub-officer John Peters spoke of the way in which the service pooled resources.

All mobilisation within Hampshire was, he said, administered from central control at Eastleigh, with deployment of resources dependent on the type of incident and the type and level of appliances required. While automatic fire alarm activation, grass fires, chimney and vehicle fires generally only required one appliance to attend, most other types of call would require an initial attendance of at least two pumping appliances.

Alton had two major fire appliances and one Land Rover which, like those based at other stations, could be deployed to assist with a fire anywhere in the county.

Acting operations director for the Hampshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Diane Lee, explained that the whole of Hampshire was classed as a ÔruralÕ area. Response standards therefore demanded that 75 per cent of life-threatening incidents be attended to within eight minutes and 95 per cent of emergency calls receive ambulance response within 19 minutes.

The trust has 19 ambulance stations located at strategic points throughout the county, one of which is in Alton, and it is necessary, said Mrs Lee, Òto locate vehicles in various other points through dynamic deployment in order to meet the performance targets and patient needs.Ó

This plan has evolved through the use of past emergency call date and the level of resources available.

ÒAs you can imagine, without infinite resources and funding it is a task that requires constant review and innovative plans to ensure that we meet the mandatory performance targets,Ó she said.

Other initiatives being used include rapid response vehicles, a motorcycle response trial, and community first responder schemes, one of which was started in Alresford last year.

ÒWe are always willing to learn of other ideas that will assist in meeting the needs of our patients and the community of Hampshire,Ó said Mrs Lee.