Police station site signed to Tesco

Land for the new £10million police station in the heart of West Bromwich has been signed over to supermarket giant Tesco.

The state-of-the-art new station will cost £3million more than the original £7million price tag, with work now set to start next month.

The new site is currently a car park, on the corner of Bowater Street and Moor Street in the Lyng area of the town. Work on the police station will mark the start of Tesco's £200million redevelopment of the town centre.

Sandwell regeneration boss Councillor Bob Badham spoke about the plans today, after it was revealed the council and Tesco had exchanged contracts. The new police station will replace an existing one in New Street, a site earmarked for a major shopping centre, including a Tesco Extra store.

Building work on the new force base had been expected to start before the end of last year, but was delayed because of technical negotiations.

Earlier this week there were fears that work could be delayed until the end of next year, after Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners, working on behalf of Tesco, applied to Sandwell Council to extend planning permission.

But Councillor Badham today stressed work will start within weeks.