ONE of North Yorkshire’s two police control rooms is to close in a move which will see all operations based in York.

North Yorkshire Police has confirmed it will shut its northern control room at the force’s Newby Wiske headquarters in Northallerton by the start of July and centralise calls at its Fulford Road base.

The move is part of the force’s efforts to cut about 350 police civilian posts, which equates to one in four non-frontline staff.

Assistant Chief Constable Tim Madgwick, who is overseeing the changes, said work would begin immediately to reconfigure the force control room (FCR) in York and until the switchover, which is scheduled to take place by July 7, the Newby Wiske site will remain fully operational.

As part of a “resilience plan” which includes work with neighbouring forces, 12 FCR workstations will also be retained in Northallerton. Assistant Chief Constable Madgwick said: “From all the in-depth analysis of emergency and non-emergency call-handling demand and the critical command functions associated with the control room, we firmly concluded that centralising the control room in York was the most efficient and effective way forward.

“The move to a centralised control room is all about securing a sustainable and successful future for North Yorkshire Police at a time when funding has decreased significantly. It won’t be easy, and we are all fully aware of the difficult and painful decisions which have had to be made, but we strongly believe that we can achieve our ultimate aim of doing more with less and ensuring North Yorkshire and the city of York remains one of the safest and low-crime areas in the country.”

The force cannot yet say how many staff members will leave the organisation, but it is thought the latest move will impact about 100 jobs.

A 90-day consultation ended last Thursday.

Staff affected are now attending one-to-one meetings to discuss their options, which include redeployment and voluntary redundancy.

A further announcement is set to be made by North Yorkshire Police later this week regarding more changes, which the force says are aimed at “providing the best and most cost-effective policing service possible for our communities”.