Work begins on new out of town police station

The new station would be based at Milton after the current site in Parkside was said to be "beyond its functional age"

Construction work has started on a new police station on the outskirts of Cambridge.

The land at fields in Milton was purchased in April 2022 and has been cleared for a new access road.

The current station at Parkside, in the city centre, was constructed in the 1960s and Cambridgeshire Constabulary said it was "beyond its functional age".

Supt Adam Gallop said: "The need for a new station is imperative."

He added: "The new station will provide a modern, sustainable workspace that will make the working lives of officers and staff better.

"It will also help us meet the needs of our ever-growing population, enable us to respond to calls for service more efficiently and better respond to the challenges of modern-day policing."

The force says Parkside has an insufficient number of cells which are not up to standard.

South Cambridgeshire District Council granted planning permission for the building, beside the Milton park and ride, in March 2021.

Archaeologists found evidence the land at Milton was occupied in the Roman, Iron and Bronze Ages.

The work that started on Monday included installing a new access road, "construction of foundations" and a car park.

An ecologist surveyed the site which led to the removal of any vegetation before the nesting season started in March, the force said.

The building is expected to be completed in late 2025.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary said no decision had yet been made over the future of the police station at Parkside, and that it was also looking at locations for a new base in the city centre.