More spending on police HQ approved by councillors

Members of Humberside Police Authority's finance committee approved an extra 7m, bringing the bill for the project, which will now include facilities based at Tower Grange police station, to just under 33m.

Both Tower Grange, on Holderness Road, and Queens Gardens, in the city centre, will close and be sold to offset the costs.

The police authority said costs could be limited by shelving other projects, cutting the increase to 3.1m.

Chairman Coun David Rudd said: "I wouldn't dispute at all that 7m is a large sum but in the longer term it is going to be cost-effective and there will certainly be a capital receipt from selling Queens Gardens and Tower Grange."

The new arrangements will make it more difficult to report a crime at a local police station.

Humberside Police was criticised recently by a resident who tried to report that his car had been vandalised at Peeler House, in Hessle, only to be told he needed to ring the call centre.

However Coun Rudd said telephoning police was part of modern policing. "It would be marvellous to think that someone spots a crime and nips into the local police station and reports it.

"In theory that's fine but in practice it isn't always the best use of resources."

Deputy chief executive of Humberside Police Authority John Bates said the costs of borrowing to pay for the project would be offset by revenue savings. At the moment they were forecasting a two per cent increase in the amount ratepayers pay as part of council tax.