Over £23,000 spent on Heywood Police Station for crime squad to move out after just 16 months

Greater Manchester Police spent over £23,000 on refurbishments to Heywood Police Station for a crime squad that was based there for less than 16 months.

Figures released show that work undertaken on the station cost £23,061.71.

The renovations were carried out to the station on Queen’s Park Road when the forces Major Incident Team (MIT) moved in last year.

The station, which was built in 2004, had work carried out on it to make it a “more useful space” with plans to close the station being denied.

It is understood that despite the renovations, MIT moved out of the premises some weeks ago.

Chief Superintendent Chris Sykes said: “The improvements made about a year ago at Heywood Police Station have made it a more useful space for office staff and allowed more teams to be accommodated there.

“There are no plans to close the building and the neighbourhood policing team continues to use it when appropriate. Other Force resources will also be working from there and making further use of the space.

“Our priority continues to be the safety of our local residents and every decision we make is for the greater good of the community.”

The neighbourhood police team for Heywood moved out of the building when MIT moved in. The neighbourhood police team is now based in Middleton but can still visit the Heywood building whilst on shift.

The public enquiry counter which was based at Heywood was one of 23 closed across Greater Manchester in 2012.