POLICE are to be urged to open Richmond police station 24 hours a day following a major review of crime and safety in Richmondshire.

A report by the district council's community and environment scrutiny committee made the re-opening of the cells in Richmond its number one recommendation.

Members were particularly concerned about police officers having to take prisoners to Northallerton or Harrogate because the cells in Richmond were closed several years ago. Transporting prisoners took two officers and a vehicle out of use for at least two hours, often more.

The report also highlighted the difficulty the public faced when trying to get into the police station. When the front doors were locked, they had to use a telephone by the door to contact the control room at Northallerton and ask an operator to telephone a Richmond officer, who would unlock the door and allow them in.

The report, How Safe Are Our Streets?, also recommended better lighting for taxi ranks, inclusion of alcohol abuse in Hambleton and Richmondshire Primary Care Trust statistics, clearer and more easily available information from domestic violence agencies and a request to the Army to ensure the importance of good social behaviour is stressed during soldiers' training.

The study, completed between January and August this year, found that about a third of crimes in the district and 75pc of domestic violence incidents were fuelled by alcohol.

Licensed premises had a major role to play in tackling this sort of incident and CCTV was a useful tool in detecting a wide range of crimes.

The presence of community police was welcomed but the withdrawal of the Ministry of Defence police from Catterick Garrison had caused great concerns to residents and North Yorkshire police.

Coun Yvonne Peacock, scrutiny committee chairman, told the community committee on Tuesday that the streets of Richmondshire were basically safe. However, some types of incidents were increasing and it was important to tackle those.

The committee backed the findings of the report, which will be sent to the Home Secretary, North Yorkshire's chief constable, the commander of Catterick Garrison and other organisations.