OKEHAMPTON police station enquiry office is one of 23 to remain open, following a review of the service.

Some 34 will be closed next spring, including Tavistock, as part of modernisation which will save the force £5.4-million over the next four years.

Footfall and geographical location has been taken into account in deciding which stations will continue to be open to the public and a survey which revealed that around 90% of crimes in Devon and Cornwall are recorded on the phone.

A statement from police headquarters this week said that during the last four years the force had been modernising the way communities could contact the police. 'These changes include dedicated neighbourhood policing teams, holding regular PACT (partners and communities together) meetings, crime reporting on-line, a dedicated appointments system where victims of crime can choose which station they want to go to and at what time and police surgeries which are held regularly within the local community,' it said.

'Taking into account our recent public consultation, the need to modernise our service and the budgetary reduction requirements, we have made a decision, supported by the police authority, to open at times that better suit our communities and close a number of enquiry offices where demand is at its lowest.'

The new opening times will be from 10am to 7pm Tuesday to Friday and 9am to 2pm on Saturdays. As part of the measures to save £47-million over the next four years, 700 police officers and more than 300 support staff will be losing their jobs.

Following the decision to close more than half of the station enquiry offices in the two counties, chairman of Devon and Cornwall Police Authority Mike Bull said: 'It is clear from the Government's comprehensive spending review that there will be many tough decisions to make, however, these savings need to be found in areas that do not impact on our ability to respond to 999 incidents.'

Police Superintendent Jim Meakin said a factor in the decision to keep Okehampton open was its geographical location.

He could not confirm whether Okehampton would be one of the force's central hubs in the future if community police stations were scaled down.

Supt Meakin said: 'A lot of the station enquiry offices are not used as much as they used to be and we have to modernise and move with the times. Ninety per cent of crimes are recorded on the phone.

He said policing had changed and neighbourhood teams were more visible than they had ever been, plus many other initiatives had been started like on-line crime reporting to make the system more efficient.

'There will still be telephones outside police stations so in emergencies there will be an immediate response, he said. 'We are not closing police stations and people will still see police officers and PCSOs walking around.