Burnley police contact centre to close: work moved to Hutton

The centre, which is the first point of call for members of the public wanting to talk to the police, will be shut down in 2013, along with centres in Blackburn, Preston, Lancaster and Blackpool.

All five centres will consequently be relocated to a central “hub” in Hutton, where Lancashire Police currently operate a call centre.

It is believed the move will not only help to save money, but will also provide a better service to members of the public.

With mapping systems in place, it will also be easy for the contact centre advisor to ensure the correct patrol is sent out to deal with an incident.

Talking to the Express, a police spokesman said: “The move will provide more resilience for everybody.

“The public may think it is actually an improved service. It will save us some money.

“Effectively we’ve been working like this for a while now.

“If you were phoning up in Burnley and nobody was there, it would direct you through to another centre.”

And Acting Assistant Chief Constable Tim Jacques said: “Whether they are sat in a room in Burnley or sat in a room in Hutton, it should not affect the service.

“In fact, what it should do is allow us to deliver it for a lot less money and make the service better.”

Currently. there are 315 posts for contact centre advisors across the six centres, and 35 posts for team leaders. With the closure of the centres, this will reduce to 295 posts for contact centre advisors and 26 posts for team leaders.

However, despite the reduction in posts, it is believed that everybody will be able to claim a job at the new Hutton centre.