As part of the Lib Dem campaign to recruit volunteers to secure the reopening of Muswell Hill police station front counter, local Lib Dem Leader Lynne Featherstone has visited two volunteer-manned stations on Thursday 10th July.Ms Featherstone went to the south London stations with Helen Smith, the Metropolitan Police consultant for volunteer initiatives. The visits have happened alongside plans by local councillors in the Fortis Green ward, where the station is located, to hold a public meeting on the issue on 18 September.

Ms Featherstone has been seeing for herself how the scheme could work in practice in Muswell Hill. She first went to Worcester Park police station, where with a pool of 12 volunteers ensure an open station for three days a week from 10am until 2pm. The scheme has been running for some seven months and a fourth day of opening is now imminent.

Volunteers are given training to enable them to carry out a range of tasks, which vary from dealing with lost property inquiries, to the production of driving licenses and minor crime reporting.A police-trained civilian supervisor who looks after the local operation oversees volunteers. There are always at least two people on duty and if a real policeman is needed they can call one immediately. Ms Featherstone also visited New Malden where there is a pool of 40 volunteers with a station open six days per week.

The Muswell Hill public meeting set for September 18th is being organised by Fortis Green councillors Barbara Fabian, Steve Gilbert, and Matt Davies, along with Lynne Featherstone, in response to a suggestion from the police that such a meeting should be held in order to help them explain how a volunteer scheme might work and to gauge possible support for it.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“The meeting will allow the police to explain the scheme in detail to residents. Helen Smith, who co-ordinates the Met’s programme for volunteers, will be there, and will be a good judge of the level of local support.It will be a good opportunity to make things happen.”

Steven Gilbert, Fortis Green ward councillor, adds:

“We are really looking forward to the 18th September meeting, as we believe we can show this scheme will work for Muswell Hill and Fortis Green. Residents in my ward desperately miss that open front counter, and we now have a chance to put that right.”