CONSTRUCTION work on the new Salfords police custody suite is expected to begin next month.
The controversial development on the Salbrook Road industrial estate was finally granted permission in July last year following a battle with residents. Police now hope the 24-cell facility will be in operation next summer.
With the current custody facilities at Reigate Police Station no longer fit for purpose, the borough's police chief says the new facility will be a bonus for officers.
Neighbourhood Inspector Richard Haycock told the Mirror: "It has long been the case that the custody facility at Reigate is just not enough. An alternative had to be found in order for us to be able to do the business we need to do to serve the community in the way the community would expect."
Initially Reigate and Banstead Borough Council rejected plans for the custody suite, citing fears over traffic issues. There was also massive public outcry over a fear of increased crime in the area.
But last summer the council upheld Surrey Police's appeal and since then Salfords and Sidlow Parish Council have had three meetings with police to ensure the facility does not have a negative impact on residents.
Councillor Dave Brown, the council's chairman, said: "Obviously we would rather not have it because the objections are still valid. But we have to get on with life, we trust the police operationally and they have told us there's nothing to worry about."
With the new facility now potentially only months away, Insp Haycock says it will help keep more officers on the streets.
"If the cells are full at Reigate you are faced with the decision around arrests," he said.
"You are always faced with the question, 'do I need to make this arrest, is it proportionate?' If they can't get in at Reigate, officers are travelling to Guildford, Woking, Staines, and in some cases out of the county. It takes cops off the streets of east Surrey, literally taxiing people about."
Speaking to the Mirror after the plan was given the go-ahead, Detective Superintendent Ray Blythe – who was overseeing the project – also branded the current facilities in Reigate "inadequate".
He said: "They are inadequate if you have to shut 160 times a year [because the unit is too full], and if you are moving people around in corridors that are too small."
