Town police presence promised despite station sale

Northumbria Police is considering options for a new Washington site

A police force has said there will be a "positive presence" in a town as it looks to close its station.

Northumbria Police said it was considering several options for a new base in Washington, with the current site near The Galleries shopping centre to be sold.

Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine told a meeting of Sunderland City Council it would cost a "significant amount of money" to "bring it up to the specification that it needs to be for today's standards".

It follows the closure of several police stations on Wearside in recent years.

Northumbria Police last year confirmed officers would seek alternative opportunities to relocate within the area.

Mrs Jardine told councillors this week the force was "absolutely" going to stay within Washington.

"We have got a couple of options that are looking very positive, I can't talk about them now as we have not progressed to formally signing over a lease for them," she said.

Washington Central Labour councillor Linda Williams welcomed the commitment and asked if the chief constable could work with authorities to keep councillors updated and ensure "false and malicious rumours don't swirl around and make things difficult", which she agreed to.

Station closures

The planned sale of Washington Police Station follows the closure of several police stations in Sunderland, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The Farringdon Hall Police Station, off Durham Road, closed in 2015 due to budget cuts and sat vacant for years attracting anti-social behaviour, but was recently demolished to make way for a retail park.

The Gilbridge Police Station in Sunderland city centre, which was built in the 1970s as the city's main police station, also sat empty for years.

However, the site was recently given a new lease of life after being refurbished and rebranded as The Yard, offering multi-purpose office space for businesses.

The BBC has asked Northumbria Police when Washington Police Station is due to close.