TEIGNMOUTH police could be split between a town centre 'cop shop', and a £1-million operational base at the community college.

The existing police station in Carlton Place has been sold to a developer, and will be converted into flats, to match the block at the adjoining former court house.

Police have been urgently searching for two new homes in the area, and now seem to have found the solution.

They want to convert an empty shop in Wellington Street, formerly the Sampsons electrical store and latterly a card shop, into a drop-in type centre for enquiries from the public.

But the bulk of the officers covering the Teignmouth and Dawlish areas would be based at a brand new 'vehicle response unit' on the site of the tennis courts in the college's old Mount Everest site.

Planning applications for both projects have now been submitted, and Teignmouth town councillors will tell the district planners, they support the schemes in principle.

But members still have reservations about the opening hours of the 'cop shop', and are seeking a meeting with police chiefs to clarify exactly what is proposed.

During a town council meeting on Tuesday, several members expressed concerns about the frequency the existing public enquiry office at the police station, is closed.

Cllr Sylvia Russell declared: 'It is closed more often than it is open'.

The general consensus was that the new 'cop shop' should be open more frequently, especially in the evenings when there is more likely to be anti-social behaviour in the town centre, and also to give people working by day, the opportunity to pop in.

Some members were worried that the police would want parking areas, which could mean the loss of on-street parking spaces. But town clerk Dave Tickell pointed out they only wanted two spaces, and there was a parking space behind the building.

Cllr David Weekes had reservations about losing a shop to an office, and said the unit would probably be staffed by civilians and community support officers, rather than police officers.

Cllr Russell summed up the feeling of most by saying: 'There are a lot of unanswered questions, and we need to find out more information'.

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