MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has welcomed the opening of Minehead's new police station – but says it marks the end of a ‘disastrous experiment’ in policing the town remotely.

The former Seahorse Centre off Seaward Way is being taken over by the force, which says it will be “much more efficient to run” than its previous Townsend Road station and will “allow us to continue to provide a policing service in Minehead for many years to come”.

For a time, Minehead was being provided with police cover by a small unit based in Williton.

But Mr Liddell-Grainger said that arrangement could only have been cooked up by someone entirely unfamiliar with the area.

He said: “It had all the hallmarks of someone having consulted the map in their pocket diary, seen that Minehead was only half an inch from Williton and concluding that it would be perfectly feasible to provide adequate cover for a town of 12,000 people from there.

“They clearly had no idea of the roads or the summer traffic - or indeed the extra demands on police services in the summer when Minehead’s population swells to more than 20,000.”

Read more: Former Minehead day centre to be transformed into 'more efficient' police station

He added: “Police cover in West Somerset has been stretched ridiculously thinly: I have been made aware of instances when there was just one PCSO in the entire area working a night shift.

“Meanwhile people making emergency calls have found themselves dealing with individuals in the Portishead control room with not the faintest idea of the locality.

“We are never going to go back to the way things were 50 years ago when it was felt necessary for Minehead to have a chief inspector, an inspector, three sergeants and 20 PCs.

“But to strip back police cover to the level it has been for the last few years was utterly negligent.

“I am delighted the new station is going to allow for some kind of balance to be restored.”

When the force announced its purchase of the former Seahorse Centre, temporary chief inspector Rebecca Wells-Cole said: “This is great news that we’re excited to share with the community of Minehead.

“Our existing station in Minehead on Townsend Road is oversized, in need of refurbishment and is no longer suitable to meet the needs of modern policing.

“This new station will be much more efficient to run and allow us to continue to provide a policing service in Minehead for many years to come.

“The new station will house an enquiry office to enable people to come and speak to us directly.

“It will also be the new home of our Neighbourhood Policing Team, who will continue to provide a visible policing presence in Minehead, working proactively to solve problems and support our community.”