Police station to return to Bourne Hill

This comes after the temporary closure of part of the building in April for deep cleaning as a result of the nerve agent attack in the city.

For the last five months, Salisbury’s Community Policing Team has worked out of Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre and the police enquiry desk was temporarily relocated to Salisbury Library.

The enquiry desk will close at 12 noon today (Friday, October 5) in preparation for the move. It will be open there tomorrow from 9am to 1pm.

But from Monday it will revert to its normal opening hours and services at Bourne Hill - Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.30pm and 9am to 1pm on Saturday.

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills said: “We are very pleased to be returning to Bourne Hill after months of work to ensure the building is clean and safe for everyone. The additional improvements will mean an enhanced working environment for our staff and better facilities for when we meet the public at Bourne Hill.

“It has been a challenging few months in Salisbury for everyone, but moving home provides another step towards getting back to normal and resuming day to day policing in the south of the county.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the people of Salisbury and Amesbury for bearing with us over the last six difficult months,” he added.

The Bourne Hill offices have been fully cleaned and refurbished with new furniture, lighting, air conditioning and open plan working.

Wiltshire Police will have improved facilities including dedicated meeting rooms and a new interview room.

The police area has been relocated to make it easier for discrete access without disturbing Wiltshire Council colleagues who share the building.

Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, Angus Macpherson said: “The added investment into Bourne Hill means that the facilities will now work better for the police and the public alike, with more dedicated space.

“Sharing a workspace with Wiltshire Council ensures that we are efficient with the public’s money while still being able to meet the additional demand the Force is facing on the frontline.

“Substantial savings have been made since the police moved out of the Wilton Road site and we continue to reap the benefits of working alongside our partners in the local authority.”

Wiltshire Council’s front counter services will also reopen at Bourne Hill on Monday.

The council’s first point of contact service has been operating from the reception in the Register Office in the old part of the building.

From Monday, the public can again access Wiltshire Council services at the main reception in the new extension.

The reception in the Register Office will return to the registration service.

Alistair Cunningham, the chairman of the South Wiltshire recovery coordinating group, said: “We are pleased to re-open Bourne Hill to the public. After the closure in April we moved swiftly to ensure continuity of council services to the public.

“Services and staff have been relocating to Bourne Hill since 17 September and with the reopening of the reception service it is business as usual. All the council services that were relocated to other sites have now moved back in. The offices have been refurbished and improved to benefit our customers and staff.

“I would like to thank the public and staff affected during this time for their patience and flexibility.”

Cllr Pauline Church, cabinet member for economic development and Salisbury recovery, added: “This is very good news for Salisbury and another sign that the city is getting back to normal.

“We’ve worked hard to maintain services in Salisbury since the Bourne Hill closure in April so seeing it re-open fully to the public is very welcome.”