Leyburn police station relocation to go ahead

First mooted over a year ago, it was envisaged to close Leyburn’s Victorian police station and relocate staff and facilities to the nearby fire station. Now it is understood work is on track and will be completed soon.

The police team presently located on the High Street will move and share a two-storey building which occupies a corner of the Richmondshire District Council car park. On-call firefighters and a single fire tender are presently based there and respond to emergencies via a pager alert. They also use the building to train one night a week and to perform routine administration and fire prevention tasks.

The North Yorkshire Fire and Crime Commissioner’s office confirmed the move was going ahead; building work was well underway but a specific date for moving was not known.

Speaking last year, Julia Mulligan said: "It is my firm belief that allowing emergency services to work more closely together we see greater efficiencies, but more importantly keep people safer and feeling safer.”

News of the relocation was previously met with some dismay locally with access through a restricted entrance onto the road and car parking cited as issues.

Serious flooding in July last year saw Leyburn’s fire station underwater for several hours and partially out of action for three months. The rain damaged equipment on the ground floor and electrics including the station’s IT system. Firefighters’ personal cars were damaged after being parked at the station whist they dealt with the many emergencies. The fire tender was moved to a temporary base nearby.