New Exmouth police station plans given £5m funding

A proposed new police station in Exmouth will have a public inquiry desk and be a base for about 60 officers and staff, Devon and Cornwall's police and crime commissioner has said.

Alison Hernandez said the force's resources board had approved £5m of funding at a meeting this month.

The closure of the station to the public in 2015 was criticised but it has remained an operational base.

A planning application has yet been submitted for the station.

The new station is due to be be financed by the sale of part of the existing site in North Street.

The commissioner's office said some 0.4 hectares (1 acre) would be sold, and a two-storey environmentally-friendly building would go up on 0.2 hectares (0.5 acre) of the site.

A new station was needed because the complex, which includes a disused magistrates court and a mothballed civil defence shelter, would cost more than £3m to maintain over the next 25 years, the office said.

The commissioner said her estates team was preparing to put the work out to tender but that a formal planning application still needed to be submitted to East Devon District Council.

Ms Hernandez said: "Devon's largest town... sees a huge increase in its population in the summer months."

She said: "The teams based there, and the community they serve, deserve a station which is fit for the 21st Century, less harmful to the environment and cheaper to run."

Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].