Tenby police station has been earmarked for closure as part of a Dyfed-Powys Police cost-cutting exercise, it has been announced.

The Force is proposing to adapt its services to better meet demand following an internal review into how they deal with the way the public contacts them.

The review reveals that people have changed how they contact the police and fewer people are attending police stations, a trend the Force foresees is likely to increase in future due to changes in people's behaviour and developments in new technology used by the Force. Statistics show a low number of people visiting stations.

The Force is therefore developing alternative ways of engaging with the public, for instance, through mobile police stations, increased use of mobile data equipment by police officers, holding extra police surgeries and working with partner agencies.

The Force is also proposing to use existing resources in a more efficient and cost effective way.

However, this does not mean the withdrawal of policing services from any of its areas. The proposals include different, more visible and accessible methods for people to contact them when it is not an emergency, they say.

This could mean changes to the way the Force provides some services.

The stations that have been identified in the review are: Milford Haven, Tenby, and Fishguard in Pembrokeshire; Lampeter in Ceredigion; Welshpool and Ystradgynlais in Powys; and Ammanford in Carmarthenshire.

The Force has started consultation with staff and unions who could be directly affected by the proposed changes.

Whatever the outcome of the consultation, all of these stations will continue to provide 24-hour accessible policing services.

A spokesperson for Dyfed Powys Police, said: "We have to reduce costs by over £13 million by 2015/16 to meet the coalition Government's cost reduction targets.

"To achieve this, we have been reviewing all aspects of the organisation to identify where cost reductions can be made while, protecting front line resources, maintaining or improving services to the public, and minimising the impact on staff.

"The Force is currently carrying out a consultation with staff about a number of recommendations identified in an internal review and is looking at all options to deliver services effectively in different ways.

"While Tenby is part of the consultation process, there are no plans to withdraw policing services from the area and this will remain as an operational policing base," they added.

The Force's Chief Constable, Ian Arundale, said: "The review highlights the changing way the public accesses our services and we need to acknowledge and adapt to this in order to provide the best possible service for our residents.

"The Force is always looking at ways to improve its service to the public and these proposed changes will help us achieve that, while also reducing costs to meet the coalition Government's cost reduction target for the Force of over £13 million by 2015/16.

"Providing alternative convenient ways for people to contacts us in their communities will also help us to protect front line police officer roles and enable us to redeploy some staff to carry out other key tasks.

"During times of austerity, we must focus on providing more convenient and efficient alternatives for people to contact us. In some cases this could mean changing facilities that are rarely being used and developing other ways for people to contact us. For instance, through mobile police stations, police surgeries and working with partner agencies," he added.

Councillor's view

With Pembrokeshire County Councillor John Davies who is one of the authority's representatives on the Dyfed-Powys Police Authority set to put his name forward to be considered as the new Dyfed Powys Police Commissioner later in the year, Tenby county councillor Mike Evans said it would be very interesting to see developments.

"This will be a key issue, and people living in Pembrokeshire, will be given the opportunity to have their say on policing by voting for their preferred candidate on November 15 this year, and I and the rest of Tenby would be very interested in knowing whether Clr. Davies is in favour of this closure or against it," remarked Clr. Evans.

"No matter how you dress it up, this is a reduction of police services in Tenby, so is this just the beginning and if so what are they going to take away next?

"Tenby has already lost its full-time police inspector and I'm worried for the town's people and elderly population especially, as they're taking away the front desk service and the link to the police and the public," added Clr. Evans.