The ‘old’ police station building in Wilton Road not only served as an essential police station, but is also an iconic building in its own right.

It should have never been sold, a new custody suite had only just been completed at a cost of £4 million.

There was plenty of office space, a large garage for vehicle maintenance and forensics, a base for the traffic department, even dog kennels.

Read more:

The new law courts were built just down the road so no long journeys for police and prisoners to travel for court appearances.

It is easy for the public to access by bus or a short walk from the city. No loss of public parking places as at present or having to pay to park when needing to visit the police currently housed in the council offices.

In the case of the Novichok contamination, that could have been contained in one building had the police had their own station. Perhaps a de-contamination area could be considered within the police building should a similar hostility happen again.

Surely there is no argument as to where the new police station should be sited. We are so fortunate that our original building still stands and stands unused that we must take this wonderful opportunity to reclaim it.

Any excess space within the building could be used as an on site police training school or maybe even rented out to council staff.

Salisbury urgently needs its own proper police station for police work to be carried out efficiently, ie not having to drive many miles along country roads with prisoners to access Melksham or Chippenham.

I look forward to seeing it back in full operation.

Jane Martin

Alderbury

Get more Salisbury news. 

You can also like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date, as well as signing up for one of our newsletters.

If you want online news with fewer ads, unlimited access and reader rewards - plus a chance to support our local journalism - find out more about registering or a digital subscription.

Email newsdesk@salisburyjournal.co.uk with your comments, pictures, letters and news stories.