THE fate of the Tees Valley's police helicopter was unclear last night as it emerged that Cleveland's police and crime commissioner (PCC) had voted in favour of shutting its base.

Despite issuing a statement saying he was "disappointed" at the decision, Barry Coppinger admitted he had backed a plan to close the National Police Air Service (Npas) facility at Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA), as well as nine others around the country.

It is not clear what will happen to the helicopter currently based at DTVA when the base closes in the 2016/17 financial year.

The Npas base at Newcastle International Airport is set to survive the cull.

But neither Mr Coppinger, a member of the Npas strategic board, nor West Yorkshire Police, which oversees the service, was able to say if the DTVA helicopter would remain in the region.

The decision to close the DTVA base was last night criticised by Cleveland Police Federation chairman Paul Brown.

He said: “This is another example of how Government cuts to the policing budget are affecting the service that the public of Cleveland receives.”

Mr Brown said the federation was worried about the impact on response times by this decision.

He added: “As a police service you want to react to incidents as quickly as possible and you want your resources there as quickly as possible in order to detect crime and protect the public of Cleveland.

“The Npas helicopter provides vital assistance to the police officers on the ground who are on the front-line doing the best they can for the communities they serve.”

Npas confirmed on Thursday afternoon that it planned to move to a 15-base model, with 19 helicopters and four fixed-wing aircraft.

Bosses said they had already made savings of 23 per cent, amounting to £11m, but needed to make further cuts of 14 per cent.

The police helicopter base opened at DTVA in 1995 under the regional consortium involving the Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria police forces.

Cleveland Police had its own aircraft until the transfer to Npas in 2013.

The switch meant the force no longer had its own dedicated helicopter, with other forces able to call on the aircraft.

However, senior Cleveland Police officers defended the move at the time, saying the new arrangements would provide the same aircraft cover for Cleveland and at a cheaper cost.

Last night, Cleveland PCC Barry Coppinger confirmed to The Northern Echo that he had voted in favour of the national cost-cutting package at a Npas strategic board meeting on Thursday.

Mr Coppinger said he would be looking to renegotiate the £1.4m paid to Npas in order to reinvest that money in front-line policing.

He added: “Responsibility for police air support lies with the National Police Air Service, and while I’m disappointed that they have chosen to close the base at Durham Tees Valley, I am only too aware of how funding cuts mean that difficult decisions have to be made.

“I will be working with police colleagues to closely monitor plans for what the closure means in terms of level of service to Teesside and should the service reduce, I will be renegotiating a better deal for our area so that we are able to put money back into local policing."

The decision to close the base comes less than a year after DTVA opened a new purpose-built hangar for the Npas aircraft.

The 320 square metre facility was provided under a five-year agreement between the airport and the Npas.

Airport bosses said they would be very disappointed if the base was to close.

A DTVA spokesman added: "We have had a long and successful relationship with the police air support services.

"Following the establishment of the Npas a five-year agreement to continue the operation at Durham Tees Valley was reached towards the end of 2013.

"Under the agreement the airport invested in providing a new purpose-built hangar for the service. The new facility opened in May last year."