§ Mr. R. Morganasked the Home Secretary whether, in view of the need for locking air-raid shelters in certain areas, he will authorise the police on appropriate beats to be supplied with the keys of the shelters so that there can be no delay in opening them?
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§ Mr. E. BrownI have been asked to reply. It is the practice in many districts for the police to be provided with the keys of public shelters which, as a result of experience, have to be kept locked for the purpose of preventing damage. The arrangements for ensuring that the shelters will be available to the public on or immediately after a raid warning must, however, be determined in the light of the circumstances of the particular district concerned, and I do not think it is practicable to lay down any hard and fast rule as to the persons by whom the keys should be held.