Steelhouse Lane police station to close
Birmingham’s Steelhouse Lane police station, one of the oldest in the country, is to close as part of a £17 million savings plan.
The listed building, which dates from the 1890s, still has a Victorian-era custody block in everyday use and the cost of bringing the facilities up to modern standards has been declared prohibitive.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Bob Jones confirmed that Steelhouse Lane will be declared surplus to requirements within two years and the building will be sold.
Operational police officers and administrative staff are to be transferred to the nearby Lloyd House police headquarters at Colmore Circus, which will be improved and become the new central police station for Birmingham.
The Steelhouse Lane custody facilities will not be transferred to Lloyd House and will instead move to a purpose-built site elsewhere in Birmingham. West Midlands police custody provision is to be boosted by a ‘super block’ custody suite to be built in Sandwell, Mr Jones said.
Office-based police staff at Civic House and Aqua House in Birmingham will also move to Lloyd House in a wide-ranging shake-up of accommodation which Mr Jones said would eventually lead to cash savings and enable him to put a further 70 police officers into operational duties.
A former police station in Aston will close within the next two years, along with the Edgbaston police base. The neighbourhood team based at Edgbaston police base will relocate to alternative premises in the area.
