Bromyard Police station will move in mid-January if planning permission for a new station is granted.

The move into the site of Herefordshire council's area office in Rowberry Street will be temporary, while the old police station is demolished and a new station is built at the current site.

The area office will move to the new Bromyard library when it opens in the first week of January.

Kate Tonge, spokesman for West Mercia Constabulary, said: "The current station isn't really suitable for modern-day policing and we've designed a purpose-built building intended to replace the current police sta-

tion in Bromyard."

She could not reveal the cost of the project but said funds would not be taken away from front-line policing in Bromyard.

The planned new police station will have disabled access and provide better facilities for the four officers, a community support officer, two special constables and a part-time receptionist who work from Bromyard.

If planning permission is granted, work on the new station should be completed by the end of the summer.

Inspector Sheila Thornes, of Leominster Police, said the station would have the capacity for more officers if they were needed in the future.

She added that the existing police station in Bromyard was almost uninhabitable: "It's a horrendous building, it's damp and it's starting to fall to bits."

Of the temporary site she said: "It is right in the centre of Bromyard and in some ways this is a better location for the police station, but the actual accommodation is not suitable for long-erm use."