Police emergency vehicles to be based at Hanley fire station

Police and fire services will both be despatched from Hanley Fire Station, it has been revealed

Emergency police and fire vehicles in Stoke-on-Trent are to be dispatched from one building.

Staffordshire Police's northern response team, based at Hanley's police station, is to move into the nearby fire station.

Unions representing both emergency services said they have reservations over the move.

Both the Fire Brigades Union and Police Federation said they have concerns about the size of the building.

The commissioner's office said a decision was made to sell Hanley Police Station about 18 months ago, as it is in a poor state of repair and does not meet the force's requirements.

It is currently used only for the response team's dispatch, with the nearest place for public inquiries being at Longton.

a desk in the nearby Stoke-on-Trent City Council One Smithfield building for the public to speak to officers.

Hanley Police Station does not meet Staffordshire Police's requirements

Staffordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Matthew Ellis said the move will mean more public money can be "ploughed back into frontline services".

In March last year, it was confirmed Mr Ellis was to take over the governance of the county's fire service.

He said the decision for both services to be brought under one roof at Hanley is part of plans to make both emergency services "more sustainable financially through collaboration".

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Keith Jervis, Staffordshire Police Federation chairman, said it has "always been opposed to the move" because of concerns the building is not suitable to house both services, and because it backs onto a number of residential properties.

Richard Williams, brigade secretary for Staffordshire's Fire Brigades Union, said it also had concerns because of the size of the station and is working with the commissioner's office over its reservations.