GREAT DAYS OF THE 'OLD BILL' IN BRIGG

At a Brigg Town Council meeting in the Angel Suite a few weeks ago, Coun Ann Eardley expressed concern after reading a press report which suggested the post of North Lincolnshire’s police chief was about to be scrapped.
Coun Eardley was worried about what that might mean for local policing in Brigg.
It turns out this was not just press speculation - the change has come to pass and Chief Supt David Hilditch will now split his time between overseeing the Scunthorpe and the Grimsby areas, following budget cuts that saw the scrapping of the North Lincolnshire divisional commander’s post.
We wouldn’t be surprised if Coun Eardley posed the same question again at a future meeting of Brigg Town Council, although assurances have been given that frontline policing will not be affected by the new chief's dual role.
Only 30 years ago, Brigg had a Chief Inspector, Bill Horsfield, based at our police station on Barnard Avenue, who oversaw the Brigg and Barton sub-division. And he lived in Brigg.
There was an inspector in Barton and another in Brigg, running the local stations. The approachable and long-serving Bill answered to higher-ranking officers in Scunthorpe, of which our local sub-division formed part.
These days, there appears to be one inspector to oversee not only “rural” policing in the Brigg and Barton areas, but also out in the Isle of Axholme.
If our town councillors do decide to write to Humberside Police it would be interesting if they reminded today's senior officers' about the era of the “Old Bill” when Chief Inspector Horsfield, based in Brigg, managed his own sub-division serving this area.
For, in manpower terms, there would appear to be differences between “local policing” then and “local policing” as it is today.
Chief Insp Bill also carried out the prosecution of offenders at Brigg Magistrates’ Court, generally presenting the facts of each case himself, rather than employing solicitors.
It’s certainly no fault of today's police that they no longer play a part in presenting the less serious cases for “summary justice” (now done by the Crown Prosection Service).
Further streamlining, in the name of efficiency – not a police matter - saw Brigg courthouse closed and our cases, and even some local magistrates, moved to Scunthorpe.
Was that good for Brigg?

Our picture shows the now closed Brigg Courthouse. Cases were heard in the larget room on the right of the picture, while Brigg police used to be based in the same building, until the late 1970s. The "Cop Shop" was on the right.