Plan for police museum in Belfast 'to open in 2025'

The museum will replace a smaller facility within the grounds of the PSNI headquarters in Belfast

New plans are being finalised for a long-delayed £6m police museum in Belfast, with an "anticipated" opening in late 2025.

Costs will be met from "ring-fenced capital previously set aside by government", according to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

It will replace a smaller facility within the grounds of the police headquarters at Knock Road in the city.

Funding was secured 10 years ago but the project has been delayed.

That was due to a series of reviews, which included one about where the memorial should be situated.

Planning permission for a previous proposal was granted in 2016.

Two centuries of police history

PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne provided the update at a recent private event marking 100 years of policing in Northern Ireland.

The police service told BBC News NI that the outlined business case would be completed this month.

The museum will be about 1,500 sq m in size and will be divided into four areas, "charting the history of policing" since the 1800s.

A large amount of artefacts currently held in storage will be put on display at the site.

The museum will be located beside existing memorial gardens for PSNI and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers.

The PSNI said: "The intention is for the completed museum to be governed by a board of trustees, operating as a charitable body.

"It is anticipated that the new museum facility will be self-sufficient with support from external or internal funding sources, if so required."