RESIDENTS had a chance to air their views about plans to close three police stations in the borough in front of two top cops last night.

A proposal to close three Victorian stations in Hanwell, Greenford and Norwood Green, presented by Borough Commander Chief Superintendent Sultan Taylor, and Superintendent Ian Jenkins, was met with hostility from many local residents in Ealing Town Hall.

Many took issue with proposals to take away front desk facilities at Greenford police station in Oldfield Lane, and to relocate the Safer Neighbourhood Teams based there to the Grand Union Village site, in Ruislip Road.

Residents representing neighbourhood watch groups and other associations attacked the plans, which, they claimed, would lead to shoppers in Greenford town centre feeling less safe and an increase in crime in the area.

Supt Jenkins told the audience, a survey of the station revealed only 48 user interactions over the course of a 40-hour working week, of which 16 were phone calls.

Mike Roberts, who leads Greenford Neighbourhood Watch, said: "I'm here representing 30,000 Greenford residents who do not want it closed.

"I'm retired and I go up to Greenford Police Station every day, but it is never open, so how can it be well used if it is never open?"

Both officers were keen to reassure the audience the plans to streamline the police buildings in the borough were not a done deal, and the feedback from the consultation, which closes on February 18, would be considered.

Problems with current police stations include the total number of cells in the borough, which stands at 33, for the 12,000 people arrested in the borough every year, small rooms in older buildings and a lack of IT infrastructure to speed up communications.