WELSHPOOL Police Station's 24-hour presence has been restored, two years after the decision to end the round-the-clock service.

Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn told people at a virtual public meeting held online that a decision to reduce staff coverage made a couple of years ago had been changed.

Mr Llywelyn, said: “I’m really pleased to hear about the changes in the shift pattern at Welshpool.

“Police resources are the responsibility of the chief constable (Mark Collins) and once the changes were made about two years ago, I was certainly questioning whether it was a right thing to do.

“Seeing the shift back is a very positive thing from my point of view."

Mr Llywelyn, said that the decision to reduce the shifts at police stations had not been popular at the time.

He added:  “We did get criticism, not necessarily in Powys but in other areas, such as Milford Haven.”

Mr Llywelyn said that residents there had been unhappy to see the police presence in the town fall from 24 hours a day to 16.

For the last decade, police stations throughout Powys, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire have been under review.

The police station at Llanfair Caereinion closed, and shifts patterns across the force changed.

This was partly due to more use of technology and people reporting crimes through a number of different ways including by the website and social media.

The emphasis had been funding police officers rather than buildings.

Many of the decisions were made before Mr Llywelyn was elected commissioner in May, 2016.