POLICE stations across the county are to be closed in a radical attempt by Surrey Police to cut costs.

With an average of less than ten visitors a day, Horley and Banstead are among the first stations in the firing line as part of bold proposals that could result in police stations sharing office space in council buildings and leaving their kit in libraries.

Consultation with the public in Reigate and Banstead began on Monday, with consultation in Tandridge expected to follow later in the year.

Speaking at a meeting at Reigate Police Station on Thursday, Chief Superintendent Gavin Stephens said: "Surrey Police has never been shy of making brave changes. This is one of those.

"Many of our police stations were built in Victorian times. People used to walk into them to access the police. Well, they don't anymore. Mobile phones, internet, all the rest of it – we get much more traffic on the phone and websites than at the counter."

He added that a lot of police stations in the county were in the wrong places and in the wrong sort of condition, and cost the force about £2.4 million a year to run.

He said: "Horley has an average of seven visitors per day, Banstead an average of nine a day. And the average cost for a visit is £82.

"Compare that to more than 2,600 calls per week, where the total cost to the force is just £7 each.

"From a front counters point of view, clearly it's not cost effective to keep the number of front counters open. So what we are talking about is a minimum of 12 counters across the county – in effect there would be one in each of the co-located offices. In some places, it will be in the same place as the local authority."

He confirmed that, for the moment, Reigate police station is safe from the axe because there is a custody suite there, but he did not rule out that changing in time.

The plan is to axe outlying and little used police stations, and to find alternative bases to locate smaller teams – retaining a core base often in council buildings with "satellite" bases for officers to park bikes and leave their kit.

Mr Stephens added: "For example, the new leisure centre development down on Court Lodge, Horley – is that the sort of place we would want a little office in the future?

"That process can take some time. It's a programme that will take from now probably until 2012 or 2013. It's not a quick thing.

"People aren't going to find their station closing next week. We've got time to consult over the summer, then we need to get the approval of the Police Authority.

"If we were able to release all 22 buildings, over 10 years we'd save £52 million."

Mr Stephens was swift to reassure the public that these changes should mean a better service, saying: "All that these outlying stations are used for now is, in some cases, front counters that hardly anyone is using, and bases for our local neighbourhood teams that we can do a lot more cost-effectively by sharing buildings."