Report Page 12 - Southport, Formby, Liverpool 2019-04-13

Paramotorist crash kills 1 at Royal Birkdale Golf Course

ON Thursday, 11 April 2019, at around 7pm, emergency services were called to the Royal Birkdale Golf Course following reports that a microlight aircraft had crashed..

A Police spokesman said:- "Following enquiries we can confirm the incident at Royal Birkdale Golf Course involved a para-motor, not a microlight as originally reported. Merseyside Fire and Rescue attended the scene to extinguish the fire that had been caused when the aircraft hit the ground. Ambulance crew are also in attendance. We can confirm that a person was sadly pronounced dead at the scene, following the incident. We are still establishing the facts and the identity of the person and enquiries are ongoing."

As a result of the crash, motorists were asked to avoid the area, as the Coastal Road including Shore Road and Weld Road were closed to both pedestrians and vehicle traffic. Also, Merseyside Police asked that the media and public to be respectful with regards the photos of the crash site.

The crash site, we are informed was on land adjacent to Royal Birkdale Golf Club, that is owned by Sefton Council, so the course, that was unaffected.

Did you know? A para-motor is a motor driven propeller, worn like a backpack under a canopy called, a para foil. The para foil is a type of parachute / kite that unfolds when moving and acts as a wing, but with no rigid primary structure

Merseyside Police Announce New General Enquiry Office Opening Times

MERSEYSIDE Police are changing the opening hours of its General Enquiry Offices (GEO) across the county, from the 15 April 2019. The change follows an extensive review of the GEO service by the Force, which found that front line Police Officers were frequently having to provide cover in the GEO's to keep them open to the public. This meant that the Force was having to take Police Officers off the streets of Merseyside, preventing them from responding to emergency incidents. The review also identified that the number of people visiting GEO's across Merseyside has significantly reduced in recent years.

On average, just 1 customer per hour attend GEO's in the Force, although some GEO's have a higher footfall than others. To prevent the Force from having to backfill the GEO service with frontline Officers who should be out on the streets protecting our communities a decision was made to change the GEO opening hours in February 2019, whilst the Force sought to recruit additional staff to provide a more sustainable GEO service. The additional staff have now been recruited and from Monday, 15 April the opening hours of GEO's across Merseyside will be as follows:-

► Birkenhead, St Anne Street, Southport, St Helens and Huyton will be open between 10am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday.

► Wallasey, Marsh Lane, Admiral Street, Walton Lane, Speke, Kirkby and Newton-le-Willows will be open between 10am and 6pm, Monday to Friday.

The public will also have access to Community Police Stations that have been introduced across Merseyside. These provide an additional service in our local communities.

Deputy Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, said:- "The GEO service is only one way in which the public can contact us, we have community Police Stations across Merseyside and at the start of last year we introduced a dedicated social media desk in our Call Centre giving the public the ability to contact us online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to report non-emergency incidents, or to ask for advice. In the last 14 months the desk has dealt with an average of 2500 contacts every month. The review we have conducted on the GEO's has shown that the number of people visiting the offices has declined year on year and people just aren't using them like they used to, preferring to contact us via other means. We clearly need to consider this as we continue to look at how we best engage with our communities in the most efficient and effective way. It's really important for us to get the right offer for our local communities and that needs to balance their needs with the demand we see for services. We can then put our resources in the right places. Quite often people believe that when a General Enquiry Office is closed the Police Station is no longer operational. This is not the case. We will continue to review how our communities can contact us to ensure that we can provide an offer that meets their needs and ensures the most effective use of Force resources. Any decisions we make will not be made lightly, but it must be remembered that since 2010 the Force has lost ₤110m and more than 1600 Officers and staff due to funding cuts. We have already made a lot of hard decisions, but the impact of these cuts is continuing and the decisions we are having to make are getting harder. But I can assure the people of Merseyside that our duty to protect the public remains our primary aim and we will continue to deliver the best possible service we physically can with the budget and the resources we have."

Alternative ways to contact Merseyside Police include:-

► Online reporting on the Force website:- Merseyside.Police.UK - This should be used for non-emergencies.

► Facebook via Merseyside Police Contact Centre - Either leave a comment or send a direct message via Facebook Messenger. This channel is monitored 24/7

► Twitter via:- @MerPolCC - A private, direct messaging facility is available. This channel is monitored 24/7.

► Call 101 for non emergencies - Calls to:- 101 cost 15 pence, per call, from landlines and mobiles.

► Typetalk on:- 18001 101. This service is provided by Action on Hearing Loss for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired.

ONLY call:- 999 for all emergencies, if:-

► A crime is happening now.

► Someone is injured.

► You or someone is in danger.

► The person who has committed an offence is still there or is nearby.

Community Police Stations (CPS) across Merseyside. Local policing teams advertise the dates and times widely on Facebook and Twitter and on the Force website:-

Location of Community Police Station opening times:-

Wirral:-

► The Parade Hoylake Community Centre, Hoyle Road 2pm to 4pm and 6pm to 8pm (times alternate weekly) Wednesday.

► Moreton Library and 1 Stop Shop, Pasture Road 1pm to 3pm, Wednesday.

► Heswall Library and 1 Stop Shop, Telegraph Road 10am to 12pm, Wednesday.

► St James Centre, Laird Street, Birkenhead 11am to 1pm, Friday.

► Conway Centre, Conway Street, Birkenhead 10am to 12pm... Every 3 weeks, days vary.

► Rock Ferry 1 Stop Shop, Old Chester Road 10am to 12pm, Monday.

► Carrbridge Centre, Woodchurch Opening soon

Sefton:-

► Maghull Town Hall, Hall Lane 4pm to 6pm, Tuesday.

► Ainsdale (not yet open) Opening soon.

Knowsley:-

► Prescot Community Fire and Police Station, Cables Way 10am to 12pm, Monday.

► The Withens, Stockbridge Village 10am to 12pm, Friday.

► Kirkby library 10am to 12pm Friday.

St Helens:-

► Greenbase, Helena West, Queensland Place 1pm to 2pm and from 9am to 10am, Monday and Thursday.

► Rainford Village Hall, Church Rd 1pm to 2pm, Friday.

► Eccleston Box, Burrows Lane; Billinge, Sutton Opening soon.

Liverpool - Garston Hospital Opening Soon...

Yellow phones are available outside Police buildings. These phones can be used to contact Merseyside Police about non-emergency issues outside of standard operating hours. In an emergency, always call:- 999.

Review findings...

The Merseyside Police Force have carried out an extensive review of the current General Enquiry Office provision across Merseyside and it found:-

► The number of people visiting GEO's across Merseyside has reduced drastically. On average just 1 customer per hour attend GEO's across the Force.

► People in Merseyside are increasingly going online to report incidents and engage with the Police, with 80 people an hour use our social media desk and 95% of our online users say they would use the online service again.

► Less than 10% of users of our social media service state they would have attended a Station to report the same issue.

► 26% of users of the social media desk state they would not have reported anything to us without the social media service.

► There are huge disparities in demand between our GEO's. Some have higher visitor numbers than others and some have very low footfall.

► 83% of enquiries handled by GEO's didn't need a visit to the Police Station by that member of the public.

► Merseyside Police have found that they have had staff shortages, Police Officers, normally from Police Response Teams, have been detailed to keep the GEO open.

► In 2018, 25,716 hours (54%) of the total hours that our 12 GEO's were open were staffed by response Officers 'backfilling' During this period, Officers still working in emergency response teams found it significantly harder to get to emergency.

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