OFFICERS from the town centre policing team have left their home at the police point in Henry Street to join forces with council workers at the Civic Offices.

In a bid to integrate working practices and cut costs from budgets which are increasingly stretched, the base for the neighbourhood policing team moved to the former Plus One building on Euclid Street on January 19.

Boasting more space and housing officers from Streetsmart, Environmental Protection, Licensing, Parking Services, Community Safety and Localities, the new home will also save time and money in policing the town centre.

The estate strategy for Wiltshire Police has been able to save £500,000 a year with the closures of sites that are too expensive or not fit for purpose.

The Wiltshire Police Authority lease for the police point in Henry Street was able to be terminated in 2015 and will not be renewed.

Pat Geenty, Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, said: “This indicates that police and other agencies are going to have to work much closer together to deliver almost the same service they did before.

“By working together we make best use of our resources, and by sharing information we are able to solve problems more quickly than if you did things by email or letter.

“I do not think we can put a figure on how much money this will save, but as a result we have not made any cuts.

“We can make more savings later on as the way we work is invigorated and becomes more efficient. Henry Street was at the corner of Fleet Street but it was small, dark and not a terribly great place to work from.

“In many cases the public did not know it was there and it was rarely visited. I believe we needed a bigger building if we were to start sharing resources with the council and coming here was the most sensible thing to do.

“I do not want my officers inside the buildings, I want them out and about, working with their communities, be that at a coffee shop or community centre.’’ Insp Paul Saunders, of the town centre Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “The neighbourhood team and response officers have very quickly got used to working from here, and this space makes us able to start and finish from here rather than starting a shift at Gablecross. That saves each officer a lot of time every day. Email traffic is one of the curses of the modern age, and now we can walk into the next room and speak to the person face to face.”

He added: “You can’t get away from cost savings and the force has a lot of money to save, but that was not the over-riding factor here. While there are savings to be made in terms of officer time and vehicle mileage, there is a common sense approach of improving the service we provide.”

Supt Andrew Carr, operational commander for Swindon, said: “It will mean that joint operations, such as Operation Salida, which involve police, Trading Standards, HMRC, Licensing and Immigration, will be even more fruitful as the core agencies involved in this type of operation will be co-located within the Civic Campus.”