Police headquarters given go-ahead

Castlegate House will be the location for the new police headquarters in Dudley

The go-ahead for a new police headquarters in Dudley has been given by council planners.

West Midlands Police has been issued with a change of use certificate for the Castlegate House building, on Castlegate Way, currently designated as offices.

The building will house about 422 staff and include a desk open to the public.

The current police station building in Brierley Hill will be sold off but neighbourhood teams will continue to be based in the area at a new location.

The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said the new police station would be fit for the 21st Century.

“It will be a base for the local neighbourhood policing team, for force response and it will have a front contact office that the public can attend, speak to a police officer and report crime," he said.

The new development meant the return of a police station to central Dudley after a previous station closed in 2017.

A report to council planning chiefs said the change of use could be granted because the building would remain predominantly as offices.

There would be no cells at the new headquarters and the change of use would not make a dramatic impact on the surrounding area, officials added.

This report was compiled by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a partnership between the BBC and regional news organisations to cover news from local authorities and other public service organisations