POLICING in Trafford is to undergo a major reorganisation – with its four neighbourhood policing teams merged into two.

Sale and Urmston stations are currently under review, but if plans go ahead, the Sale and Altrincham neighbourhood police teams (NPTs) will be merged and located at Altrincham Police Station, under one inspector.

The Stretford and Urmston NPTs would also become one, based at Stretford.

The Divisional Commander of Trafford Police, Jim Liggett, stressed that Sale Police Station will remain open and be used as a drop in point, but the new team will be run primarily out of Altrincham.

Ch Supt Liggett said: “The only difference will be that staff are now going to park their cars and hang their coats in Altrincham, but they will go straight out on patrol into Sale.”

The new Police and Crime Commissioner of Greater Manchester, Tony Lloyd, said as cuts have to be made to the force, he would rather save staff than buildings.

“We don’t want to lose the policing footprint within Sale,” he added.

Ch Supt Jim Liggett said people should not see a difference in the number of police on the street in Sale and there will be no difference in the way the force operates.

“Trafford Police is going to be losing some members, so in order to ensure we keep delivering a high quality service, we’ll be creating new integrated teams with a greater breadth of skill within them.”

He also said that less and less people are using police stations, prefering instead to use other platforms such as the internet, phones and Twitter.