A Stoke-on-Trent police station will undergo a £3.5 million refurbishment, after previously only seeing 'minimal investment' for 30 years.

The works at Longton Police Station will see the building's floorspace increased by 15 per cent, which will allow closer working between local policing teams and specialists such as CID, as well as creating space for the station to host the city command team.

According to a decision note from Staffordshire Commissioner Ben Adams, Longton Police Station has been one of the least popular locations for officers to work from due to the lack of investment over the last three decades. Mr Adams has now approved the awarding of a contract to carry out the planned works, with a budget set at £3.514 million.

The decision note states: "This investment into policing in the city of Stoke-on-Trent will provide modern, fit for purpose facilities to deliver operational policing in the city which will deliver both better services to the residents of Stoke-on-Trent as well as economic benefits to the local area from this capital spend.

Staffordshire Commissioner, Ben Adams, said Longton Police Station had been one of the least popular locations for officers (LDRS).

"The refurbished facility will also allow, in the medium term, for the closer integration of specialist team such as CID and public protection with local policing teams. It will also create the space to host the city command team within the city. This is achieved by increasing the available floor space by circa 15 per cent.

"The business case articulated the challenges of the current condition of the building, having seen minimal investment over the last 30 years. This has led to Longton being one of our least preferenced sites for officers to work from which the refurbishment will address."

Two other options were considered for Longton. A new building costing up to £10 million was ruled out as it did not offer value for money, while a partial refurbishment would not address all the issues with the building.

The project was originally assigned a budget of £4.3 million in the capital programme, but following engagement with suppliers, it was found that a saving of £786,000 could be made.

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