RESIDENTS are being invited to talk about policing and community safety with Merseyside's deputy police commissioner.

Deputy PCC Cllr Emily Spurrell will join members of Merseyside Police's local policing teams at two surgeries at the Force's newest community police stations in the Conway Building in Birkenhead and Heswall Library.

It is hoped the sessions will give Cllr Spurrell the chance to meet residents to discuss issues in their area.

The two newly opened stations are the fifth and sixth to open in Wirral and are designed to be accessible and visible to the local community.

In Birkenhead, the surgery will take place on Friday, August 17 at 2.30pm at the Conway Centre on Conway Street.

Heswall residents will be able to along to the surgery at the Telegraph Road library from 10am on Wednesday, September 5.

These stations are part of police commissioner Jane Kennedy's 10 year plan to update and modernise the force while saving cash on annual running costs.

Cllr Spurrell said: “The Commissioner has made maintaining a visible and accessible neighbourhood policing style as one of her policing priorities, and Community Police Stations are an integral part of delivering on this pledge.

“We know the value that people put on being able to see and meet with their neighbourhood policing team and Community Police Stations are designed to put those teams right at the heart of the communities they serve.

"By holding regular surgeries, members of the public have the opportunity to pop in and discuss their concerns and share their views with their local team in a convenient location.

“For really effective policing, it is vital to gauge the views of the public and I am delighted to be joining the teams in Birkenhead and then in Heswall for some of the first sessions in these new Community Police Stations.

"It’s my job to work with the Commissioner to hold Merseyside Police to account and I would encourage people to come and tell me what they think so I can make sure their voices are heard.”

It is hoped the community police stations will be open on a regular basis and will house events such as public meetings but will not house any custody suites or cells.

All surgeries will be publicised at centres, on local billboards and through the force’s social media accounts.

Merseyside Police’s community policing inspector Georgina Minnery said: “We are delighted that these two newest Community Police Stations are now open and will be soon be welcoming people.

“The regular surgeries will give the residents of Birkenhead and Heswall an new, open and welcoming forum in which they can raise and discuss issues that really matter in their communities.

"Our local policing officers will be on hand to listen, and to provide advice and reassurance.

“The more we hear from our communities, the more effective our response will be, in tackling the wide variety of issues impacting upon people across Wirral.”