DORKING'S former police station could be knocked down and replaced with houses.
The Advertiser can reveal that property developer Martin Grant Homes has applied for permission to demolish the Moores Road building to make way for nine family homes.
The police station closed last November, and local officers are now based in the council's offices at Pippbrook.
The move was part of the force's efforts to sell off old buildings, and the Moores Road site has been on the market for the last year.
A spokesman for Martin Grant Homes said: "As identified within the Dorking Town Area Action Plan, this site is ideally suited for residential redevelopment to provide new dwelling houses."
The planning application for a mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes was submitted to Mole Valley District Council on Friday.
The spokesman added: "The proposal has been developed to reflect the scale and typical, but varied, traditional appearance of the residential architecture of the local conservation area context.
"The amount and size of accommodation makes efficient and optimum use of the site, while accommodating the appropriate area of private rear gardens and dedicated car parking."
Rodney Stone Pearne, librarian at the Christian Science Reading Room in Moores Road, said: "I imagine it could be good. Unless it is going to be developed for any other sort of purpose I think it would be good to create the opportunity for private housing."
The former Leatherhead police station in Kingston Road has also been put up for sale, as reported in the Advertiser earlier this year.
Neighbourhood officers and staff covering Leatherhead, Ashtead, Bookham and Fetcham are now based at Leatherhead Food Research in Randalls Way.
Speaking in August, former Police Authority chairman Peter Williams, who is running as an independent candidate to be Surrey's Police and Crime Commissioner, said: "As part of a wider reorganisation of the force, we have been working to replace many of our stations and offices with more cost-effective alternatives. By relocating neighbourhood police teams to new locations such as council offices and community centres, we are maintaining our presence at the heart of our communities.
"We are also making savings that have helped us to increase the number of police constables in Surrey at a time of significant financial pressure on the police service."
