Fears of U-turn over re-opening of police station in former Doncaster pit town

Mayor of Stainforth George Derx says he had been told in town council meetings that there were plans to re-open the village police station, which closed in 2019. Officers are now based in Thorne.

He said as a result, plans to include a space that could be used by police in a proposed village community hub were ditched. But now he says he has heard the base may now not re-open after all.

The hub is part of a bid by the community for Towns Fund money, which is intending to help transform the village, which was recently linked to the M18 by a new multimilion pound link road.

South Yorkshire Police say no final decision has been made.

The Stainforth police station, built in the 1920s, was put up for sale last year, but it is understood it has yet to be sold.

Coun Derx, who is also Stainforth’s Doncaster ward councillor, said: “A police presence in Stainforth is imperative, and we need a police base. We were told that they were coming back to the village.

“We’ve been campaigning to get the police back to Stainforth and thought we had managed it.

"We feel let down.

“I’m angry that I have now heard that we’re not going to get the police station back. I’d been telling people it would be re-opening. We were going to make provision for a police presence at the community hub. But the bid for that has been finalised and submitted now. We just want a police presence.”

He said there were concerns about quad bikes and other crime issues. He added the RIchard Laws grocery shop had recently been raided and damaged by thieves, sparking a crowdfunding appeal by wellwishers, which was nearing its £700 target.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said no formal decision had yet been made on the future of the police station.

They said in a statement: “Discussions regarding Stainforth police station are still underway. All relevant parties will be updated once a formal decision has been made.”

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