Move plan for police station

Walsall police station could move from the site it has occupied for around 40 years. The proposed move is part of plans for the new town’s ring road.

West Midlands Police said today it is currently locked in talks with Walsall Council to find an alternative base to Green Lane where the station has been based since the 1960s.

Senior Walsall councillors have said the authority is keen to re-locate the station because it is on the edge of a major junction due to be significantly widened to make way for the town’s new £16 million ring road although staying put will not affect the work.

Councillor Marco Longhi was the cabinet member for transportation when the detailed ring road plans were drawn up. He said: “We are working together with the police to try and find a new site for them. The police are keen to move nearer to the town centre and it would assist the ring road plans. However, the ring road improvements around Green Lane aren’t dependent on what happens with the police station and will still go ahead if they remain there.”

West Midlands Police spokeswoman Sarah Astbury said no timescale has been set for any possible move and it may be they decide to go for the alternative option of refurbishing the existing station.