IT is no surprise that the Telegraph's exclusive earlier this week about the plan to close Greenock police station is making waves.

Considerable unease has been expressed by members of the public and politicians about the controversial cost-cutting proposal, particularly since the ageing Rue End Street building could potentially be shut down within a year.

Elected members and local residents are right to be concerned and to ask questions about what this will mean in practice.

But a more significant intervention has now been made, by the former area commander for Inverclyde.

Debbie Reilly has spoken out publicly about the situation and her words command authority given the respect she was widely held in during her stint, plus her vast experience as a senior officer from the area.

The former Inverclyde chief inspector has highlighted a number of unanswered questions that Police Scotland bosses have to address.

When someone with her background in the force, who reached the rank of superintendent and has not long retired, says she is very concerned about 'scant detail' to reassure the public then management should pay attention to that.

It isn't enough for them to just bat away perfectly legitimate questions about what the future of local policing in the area will look like by saying that they will have a 'presence' in the district.

The public, police officers and local politicians need upfront reassurance on this matter before any further work is undertaken on the proposal.