From Monday, residents in Tandridge are being asked to come up with new and innovative places to meet their local neighbourhood officers.

Over the next month, Surrey Police will be asking people in the district where they feel the most convenient places are to meet with their neighbourhood officers. The Force is looking to have a greater range of accessible venues where people can speak to their local policing team aside from existing panels and surgeries. This could include libraries, shopping centres, or any other busy community focal points.

The force is also announcing its intention to make changes to police buildings across the county and is asking the public to help find alternative places for some neighbourhood teams to work from as part of a force-wide review of police stations, many of which are out-of-date, costly to run and often little-used by members of the public.

In Tandridge, the force is looking to move the neighbourhood teams out of stations in Oxted and Lingfield and find more cost-effective alternatives. Oxted receives an average of six visitors per day and is the base for three neighbourhood officers and four staff. In Lingfield, where the office is not open to the public but acts as a base for four neighbourhood officers and three staff, an alternative is already being scoped at a local community centre. We are also reviewing the station at Caterham to ensure it is being used to its full potential.

Retaining old police buildings costs the force £2.4 million a year making the average cost per visit £82 - the equivalent of three hours of a police officer's time. In comparison the vast majority of residents contact Surrey Police by telephone with 2,629 calls received on average per day at a total running cost to the force of £7 per call. Under the proposed changes to buildings, the force is looking to save the cash equivalent of £52 million over the next ten years.

Tandridge Neighbourhood Inspector Elaine Burtenshaw said: "We are facing tough choices in the current economic climate. Police forces across the UK must make savings and Surrey is no exception. But while many forces are cutting officer numbers, we are trying to avoid this and make savings on buildings instead.

"Sharing premises with other local authorities and replacing older buildings with cheaper alternatives will allow us to put more money into actually increasing the number of officers out on the streets which is what the public tell us they want.

"I know the idea of closing police stations will cause some concern but please be assured we are not talking about removing local officers from the community, they will still patrol the same streets as they do now, but from a different base. We simply cannot afford to maintain the older buildings we have in Tandridge in their current form and keep officer numbers up.

"What we need the public to do is help find cheaper, more convenient alternatives where the local teams could be based and I would encourage everyone to come along to a consultation event or go online to the Surrey Police website to learn more about what we are proposing to do and give us their ideas.

"Any changes will take many months to put in place but we remain totally committed to neighbourhood policing in our communities."

Savings made by the closure of older stations will help enable the force to recruit up to 200 extra front-line police officers. Under the proposals each borough and district will have a Neighbourhood Support Team consisting of one sergeant and six police constables that can be used to address priority issues in the community. A detective constable will also join to add investigative support.

Across the force there will also be extra resources to draw on with additions to the Cross Border Investigation Team and an extra Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Intercept team to target criminals coming into Surrey from outside the county. There will also be a new dedicated rape investigation team.

If the proposed changes to police buildings go ahead, these posts will be implemented over the next 18 months but no police station will close until a suitable alternative has been identified and changes are agreed by the Surrey Police Authority.

Caterham Police Station is a relatively new building and ideally would remain and be shared with other authorities or services. The force is in talks with Tandridge District Council and Surrey County Council but this is in the early stages and no decisions have been made.

Any changes to buildings will not affect the provision of custody cells which remain at Surrey's four custody units in Guildford, Woking, Reigate and Staines. Emergency response will also be unaffected as response teams, who are separate from neighbourhood teams, remain continuously on patrol across the county 24 hours-a-day for deployment by the Force Control Room. Surrey Police has operated successfully in this way for a number of years and will continue to do so.

Neighbourhood Superintendent Matt Bristow said: "This consultation process will help ensure we are making ourselves available to the public at the times and places which suit them best.

"We also have to be realistic about whether some of our older buildings still meet the needs of modern policing. A lot of activity that once happened in each individual station, such as answering emergency calls or managing prisoners, now happens at main operating sites and has done for some years.

"Visitor numbers to smaller stations are low and the force can no longer justify the high running costs of keeping these buildings open in their current form. But we are committed to keeping your local neighbourhood team out patrolling your area and we need your help to find the best way of doing this."

The public consultation period in Elmbridge will run until November 16. A full list of consultation events is below and available on the Surrey Police website at www.surrey.police.uk. Residents can also give their suggestions online by visiting the force website and completing an online survey.

Results will be presented to the Surrey Police Authority in December. However it is anticipated any agreed changes will take many months to implement. Residents will be updated throughout the process.

Tandridge Consultation Events