Historic police building goes on open market

A FORMER police HQ and five other stations are to be sold as part of Warwickshire Police’s plans to reduce its annual spending by £22.9m by March 2015.

The HQ, in Leek Wootton north of Warwick, is a grade II listed building on a 55-acre estate and was mentioned in the Domesday Book.

The main building, Woodcote House, was built in 1861 as a family country home and was used as a convalescent home for injured US servicemen during World War Two before being purchased by Warwickshire County Council in 1947.

It became Warwickshire Police’s HQ two years later and remained so until February when the force moved out certain administration functions and staff around the county.

Some senior officers and teams will continue to work from the building until it is sold. The Leek Wootton estate will be marketed in the new year.

The additional sites earmarked for disposal are in Coleshill, Alcester, Henley-in-Arden, Warwick and Wellesbourne.

The Birmingham office of property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton has been instructed to market the sites.

Jon Hinton of LSH said: “We anticipate interest in these prominently located sites to be strong, as they all provide attractive commercial or residential redevelopment opportunities.

“We hope to agree disposal terms shortly after the Christmas period.
“However, our involvement with the police authority is likely to continue for some time as additional assets are being identified for disposal.”