Opposition Senator Kim Swan last night said a petition launched two weeks ago campaigning for the retention of a Police station in St. George's had reached 1,000 signatures.

He said the list of names showed the strong support in the Old Town for a replacement station when the old one is closed during the coming year.

He said: "Right now we are focussing on the petition. We have already received a lot of support and we know there is much more out there.

"Just about everyone I have spoken to in St. George's believes it should have a Police station. Government has to listen to the people."

Plans to close St. George's dilapidated station down and re-open a new Eastern Division station at Southside in St. David's have met with fierce opposition from people in the World Heritage Site town.

Mr. Swan said he believed as St. David's was the fastest growing population on the Island it warranted having a station of its own, along with an additional one in St. George's.

He added: "Community Policing is more than just a catchy phrase. Community Policing is far different today than it was ten or 15 years' ago. The problems now are different and communities are more densely populated.

"If Government sees the need to take the Police headquarters and move them closer to Court Street, then we might need a new Police station in St. David's and St. George's. The issue needs to be looked at differently, rather than having `super stations'. Community Policing means understanding the community. You can't understand the community unless you are right in the middle of it. We need to be closer to the people."

Last Thursday, a meeting was held in St. George's to discuss the issue of crime and gangs of youths who hang around the town.

The meeting was attended by more than 150 members of the community, Police and Minister for Labour and Home Affairs Terry Lister, along with permanent secretary Robert Horton.

However, during the three-hour, 15-minute meeting, not one resident raised the issue of the Police station.

Campaigner for the Police station W. (Toppy) Cowen said the lack of comment at the gathering did not mean the issue was dead, but simply that it was the wrong meeting to air concerns.

And last night, Mr. Swan agreed.

He said: "This meeting was about the of gangs of youths, not about the fact that the Police station is moving to Southside.

"The two issues are very different and it was only right that they were not raised together at the same meeting. The pure fact that no one brought it up reconfirms how seriously residents take the issue of youth gangs.

"If the Police station had been raised then the issue of the youths would have been buried, and that would have been wrong.

"I think the Police station is a work in progress."

And when asked if there would be a public meeting solely to discuss the Police station, he added: "We will have a visit of the subject and see what's the best way to tackle the issue going forward.

"Right now, we are focussing on getting the support down. We will then present the petition to the Premier."