The appointment follows denials yesterday by Warrnambool police district Superintendent Don Downes that the Terang station had been left unmanned recently due to a combination of circumstances. 

He said the focus of Victoria Police was to have members patrolling communities and that sometimes meant that when people went to police stations there was no one at the station desk. 

It is understood that temporary upgrades have led to the Terang sergeant being based in Warrnambool in recent months, a senior constable had transferred from Terang to Port Fairy and another senior constable is off work due to an injury.

Calls to the Terang station in the past 10 days have gone unanswered.

Mr Downes said there was quite a bit of movement among police members across the state and sometimes it took time for new officers to be appointed to fill vacancies.

“There will be occasions when it takes time to fill those vacancies, but there has been a new senior constable appointed at Terang,” he said.

“The Terang station is not unmanned or unstaffed. Members might be out on patrol. We request anyone calling police contact triple-0, that’s our preferred method for people to contact police.

“The closest police member will then respond in an emergency.”