MELBOURN police station has been sold to a housing association. Cambridgeshire Police Authority this week confirmed that the station, in the High Street, is one of 27 properties in the county to be sold for housing stock. However, the police force ha

MELBOURN police station has been sold to a housing association.

Cambridgeshire Police Authority this week confirmed that the station, in the High Street, is one of 27 properties in the county to be sold for housing stock.

However, the police force has been guaranteed occupancy of the building for at least the next 12 months.

A spokesman for Melbourn Parish Council said it hopes to be kept informed of the developments regarding the site's future, and would like to see some community amenities made available there, as well as housing.

He said: "The feeling is that public money paid for the police station, so there should be public facilities of some kind on the site.

"So far the housing association has been very co-operative, and it is unlikely they will be building anything on there in the near future anyway due to the current climate in the housing market."

Police services in Melbourn look set to move to a building on the Melbourn Village College site.

The spokesman added: "The college is a bit out of the way so it's not an ideal place for the police station to go, but I think most police business is now handled from Sawston station anyway."

Keith Walters, chairman of the Cambridgeshire Police Authority, said the cost of owning and maintaining property meant the sale was a "sensible" move in order to raise funds for "reinvestment in better facilities".

He added: "The world of policing has moved on considerably and we want to provide facilities that better reflect the needs of our communities by ensuring that we are based in the heart of those communities and are accessible when we are needed at locations and times that convenient for members of the public, as well as our neighbourhood policing teams.

"The police authority is keen to hear any ideas or suggestions, as we want to ensure that we fully involve the community of Melbourn in coming to our final decision about relocation.