PLANS to build custody cells in south Wiltshire are set to be scrapped as police chiefs say they cannot justify the expense.

It means prisoners will continue to be transported to Melksham Police Station despite a review in 2015 stating that at more than £300k a year, the transport was too costly.

The report found Warminster was better placed strategically for the £7m unit and a feasibility study was launched with the army rebasing forming a major part. However, the chief executive of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Kieran Kilgallen, has now pre-empted the outcome of a new estates review by the chief constable.

Speaking at a police and crime panel meeting in Salisbury on Thursday, he said: “I think the operational requirement for a custody unit in the south of the county is not such as to justify the expense of building a custody unit there. That is likely to be the outcome [of the latest review].

“In an ideal world we would have one custody unit in the north of the county and one custody unit in the south of the county, that is clear.

“We have one in Melksham, would it be worth moving that to Warminster in order to keep journey times down for the prisoner transport team? The answer from the force is probably not.”

Salisbury Police Station in Wilton Road had 13 cells but it closed in June 2014 to make way for the University Technical College.

While the police moved into Wiltshire Council offices at Bourne Hill, the lack of cells means prisoners are taken on a 30-mile trip to Melksham.

Police chiefs stressed it was a temporary measure until a new custody unit was built in Salisbury, announcing it would be located on the site of the old engine sheds close to the railway station. The former chief constable Patrick Geenty even said he would resign if the city did not get another unit. However he did a u-turn, admitting he was not aware of all the financial constraints.

At the time he said between £4m and £5m was ringfenced for the new custody facility, adding the force was“absolutely committed” to providing one that would serve the central and southern parts of the county.

The force can only afford two custody units and must keep the one in Swindon due to contractual obligations under a private finance initiative. Mr Kilgallen said a decision would be made by May on the estates strategy which would be followed by a public consultation.