By Finlo Rohrer BBC News Online

Labour say police numbers and funding are up

They point to figures which suggest three police stations a month have closed under Labour, as compared to one a week under the former Tory home secretary, Michael Howard.

Some areas seem to have lost out badly. The figures suggest that Essex has lost 59 police stations, net, between Labour coming to power and 2003.

Avon and Somerset lost 40 police stations between 1992 and 2003, despite a net gain of seven stations after 1997.

What you lost was the knowledge about the community that you could never put on paper - you had a little black book at the back of your brain Linda Gittings Former village bobby

But those with experience of policing are quick to qualify the figures, asserting that declines in numbers of stations in some areas reflects rationalisation, and the replacement of older, smaller stations with newer buildings.

Some of the most pronounced drops are in rural areas, a fact partly explained by the closure of village stations, often little more than a kiosk attached to the house of the "village bobby".

Linda Gittings spent four years in the role in Stratton-on-the-Fosse in Somerset before her station was shut, and said it was about much more than just policing.

Bobby uprooted

"It was a smashing job. You were part of the community. You weren't just a police officer. Anything from the village scribe to the marriage counsellor to a social worker.

"But it was a 24/7, 365 days a year job. It was exceptionally hard, enjoyable, but hard work. I had 15 years left to do [before retirement] but I would never have lasted."

Eventually the station was closed and although the village retained a beat officer, they were uprooted from the community and moved to a full station at Shepton Mallet.

What the public don't see is officers on the beat - many won't report crime, many won't make statements Norman Brennan Victims of Crime Trust

"You get much more experience and diversity of experience [with a larger station].

"What you lost was the knowledge about the community that you could never put on paper. You had a little black book at the back of your brain.

"It is about being able to wander about and see people who you know will have seen something if there was something to see.

There was always a feeling of security that the village bobbies [could generate]. It was a deterrent."

And to critics, the physical closure of a station, even if the personnel are moved elsewhere, is a blow to communities, both rural and urban, struggling with the fear of crime.

Justice crisis

Norman Brennan, of the Victims of Crime Trust, said: "At a time when violent crime including, very frighteningly so, gun crime, are out of control, the fear of crime is the worst I've known in 26 years as a serving police officer.

"The criminal justice system in this country is in crisis. There are certain areas in the UK that are no-go areas.

"The worst news the public want to hear is that we are closing more police stations."

The loss of the most visible symbol of a police presence is a hindrance to preventing and solving crime, wherever the officers are transferred, Mr Brennan said.

"What the public don't see is officers on the beat. Many won't report crime, many won't make statements.

"We need more beat officers living within the community. In many areas the local beat officer has long gone. Their local station, due to closures, may be 10 or 15 miles away."