new fire station at Stanwell and closing the Staines station in 1962. Surrey County Council became the fire authority for the local area in 1965. The first surviving record of a town gaol in Staines is from 1274 and the erection of a new pillory and ducking stool is described in 1335. There were stocks in the Market Square through the 16th century until at least 1790. The vestry appointed the town Constable from the early 15th century until 1840, when responsibility for law enforcement was passed to the Metropolitan Police. In 1865, the police station moved to Kingston Road, later the site of the candle factory. The force relocated to a second station on Kingston Road in 1876 and moved again to new premises on the same street in 1998. In 2022, the local police force is Surrey Police. The magistrates' courts at Knowle Green, opposite the Spelthorne Borough Council offices, were opened in 1976. Healthcare Staines Cottage Hospital was opened on 19 May 1914 on the corner of Kingston Road and Worple Road. It was renamed Staines Hospital in 1933, but its importance decreased following the opening of Ashford Hospital in 1939. During the 1960s, the men's wards were shut and it became a hospital for female patients only. It closed in the early 1980s and the buildings were demolished in 1986. The Kingscroft respite service for adults with learning difficulties opened on the site in 1987. The nearest hospital with an A&E is Ashford Hospital, from Staines-upon-Thames. As of 2022, the town has GP practices at Burgess Way, Knowle Green and on Rochester Road. Transport Bus Staines is linked by a number of bus routes to surrounding towns and villages in north Surrey, south west London (including Heathrow Airport) and east Berkshire. Operators serving the town include Metroline, London United, First in Berkshire and White Buses. The bus station is to the south of the Elmsleigh Centre. Train Staines railway station is to the east of the town centre. It is managed by South Western Railway, which operates all services. Trains run to via , to via Ascot and to via . River navigation The non-tidal section of the River Thames is navigable between Lechlade in Gloucestershire and Teddington Lock. The navigation authority is the Environment Agency. Long-distance cycle route and footpath National Cycle Route 4, which links London to Fishguard, passes through Staines. The Thames Path