Last updated at 07:14, Wednesday, 08 February 2012

The location of Cockermouth's new police station has been announced.

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Cumbria Police Authority and Cumbria Constabulary made the statement today about the new station, which will act as the central base for the Allerdale Rural Neighbourhood Policing Team.

The police authority said after careful consideration, it has chosen to buy a new building on Europe Way in Cockermouth which, subject to concluding negotiations with the current owner, will go ahead this spring.

The current police station on Main Street, in the centre of Cockermouth, is no longer fit for purpose, it said.

It added: "The new building on Europe Way provides bigger, modern, more flexible accommodation, better road links and will be cheaper to maintain."

The sale and relocation of Cockermouth police station represents the first phase of a complete overhaul of the police estate used by the Allerdale Rural Neighbourhood Policing Team, which covers Silloth, Wigton, Aspatria, Cockermouth, Keswick and surrounding areas.

As well as the police station in Cockermouth, those in Keswick and Wigton will also be sold in order to fund the creation of a more efficient, functional and better located stations.

The new police station on Europe Way in Cockermouth will be used as the central base for the team, and new operating bases will be opened in Silloth, Aspatria, Wigton and Keswick.

These moves will take place before Christmas, and will save on annual running costs and improve the dispersal of officers across the area, the authority added.

The future of the front counter services in rural Allerdale will be considered in a separate review.

Chairman of Cumbria Police Authority, Ray Cole, said: “Police officers are not tied to police stations like they used to be, so it was with this in mind that we looked at the police estate in rural Allerdale.

“The existing police stations in Cockermouth, Keswick and Wigton are old and expensive to maintain, and are not ideally placed to provide the optimum service to local communities.

“At Europe Way, we have identified the ideal central base for the Allerdale Rural Neighbourhood Policing Team, and from here we plan to open new operating bases in Keswick, Wigton, Aspatria and Silloth, which will spread police resources more evenly across the area and save on running and maintenance costs."

Chief Constable Stuart Hyde added: “In the wake of budget cuts, we are challenged with maintaining a police service in Cumbria with less money.

“To achieve this, we have reviewed every facet of our service to ensure we deliver value for money.

“A review of the existing police estate showed that many of our police stations are outdated, expensive to maintain and no longer fit for purpose.

“Cockermouth police station was designed in the Victorian era - it looks picturesque, but it does not provide the kind of accommodation we need to provide a modern police service to local communities.

“Europe Way will enhance our service by providing better accommodation for our officers and staff and better access to the local roads network.

"It will be cheaper to maintain, and will mean we can focus on protecting communities in rural Allerdale.

“The structure of the Allerdale Rural Neighbourhood Policing Team will not change and the way you contact us, by the telephone and the web, will not change.

"Officers and PCSOs will continue patrolling as normal and will be even more visible in local communities.

“A better police estate will help us deliver a better police service to the people of Cumbria.”

First published at 07:09, Wednesday, 08 February 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk