Police raise £35m by selling off local bases

Essex Police has made more than £35m by selling off its buildings since 2016 and plans to sell more, despite calls from residents for more local policing.

Six sites have been sold in the past 18 months and the force hopes to offload five more by 2028.

Barbara Hollingum from Ongar, where the police station was sold earlier this month, told the BBC: "It would be nice to see some sort of presence here."

Chief constable Ben-Julian Harrington said many of the buildings were Edwardian and no longer fit for purpose.

Stations in Billericay and South Woodham Ferrers, which only opened in 1995, are among the latest set to be sold.

The force's Stanway traffic officer base, which was once home to the Police Interceptors featured on Channel 5, has also been put on the market, with a guide price of £2m.

Already sold are stations in Tilbury and South Ockendon, with the latter listed for £1m, with planning permission now given for it to become a gym.

In Ongar, the station shut in 2011 but only sold this month. Residents have been concerned about a lack of police visibility.

Mrs Hollingum said: "We don't see any police around. You just want to know that someone is there and if you call them, they come."

Sally Campion, who works in a local supermarket, added: "There's lots of antisocial behaviour up by the library, and if we saw more police about it might put people off."

In South Ockendon, the closed station is yards from the main Derwent shopping parade.

Paul Morgan said: "I was born here and we've got some lively youth around here, shall we say, and we absolutely need a base of some sort."

The Labour government has promised to deliver an extra 13,000 neighbourhood officers by the end of this Parliament, and a contactable police officer in every community.

However, Mr Harrington has warned he may have to cut 200 officers and staff due to a £34m funding shortfall in the next financial year.

Police buildings sold since July 2023:

• South Ockendon
• Tilbury
• Walton on the Naze
• Old Harlow
• Feering
• Ongar

Buildings to be marketed for sale:

• South Woodham Ferrers
• Billericay
• Sandon
• Tolleshunt D'Arcy
• Stanway

The force has been cutting back on its estate for more than 10 years - first closing front counters to the public, before beginning the disposal process.

The strategy is part of a drive to create a "modern" and "flexible" police force, with Mr Harrington citing investment in city locations like Southend and Chelmsford, and a new base being built in Dovercourt to replace the Harwich station.

Mr Harrington added: "Police stations don't catch criminals - cops and police staff do.

"I think every force would turn round and say all the police stations aren't in the place you'd have them. They are Edwardian, some are hundreds of years old, and were put in place when policing was very different.

"Where we do close police stations down, that is because operationally they are not necessary."

Mr Harrington also revealed some of the upkeep costs of keeping stations in use, including new cell doors costing £15,000.

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