'Heart of community' police plan

Police will be out and about more under the plans

Police officers in North Yorkshire could be based in shops, libraries, schools and health centres as part of £27m plans in the county.

Officials on the county's Police Authority are planning the project to replace or refurbish buildings over the next five years.

The plan also aims to put police at the "heart of local communities".

Officers will be based at Westfield School in York in a pilot scheme during the coming year.

The authority wants to sell-off old police buildings which have been deemed as no longer suitable for modern-day policing.

Policing plan Tier One: Shop fronts / shared service centres based in town or larger village centres. Tier Two: Response bases, which would include accommodation for response teams and investigative resources, situated in industrial units or the like. Tier Three: Area Headquarters, which would include accommodation for Area Management Teams and the provision of custody facilities. Tier Four: Force Headquarters, which would include accommodation for Units delivering support services for policing.

But the officials said new Safer Neighbourhood centres, police response units and custody facilities will be opened up across the county.

Policing across the county will be structured on four "tiers" of accommodation.

Jane Kenyon, chairman of the North Yorkshire Police Authority said: "The public consistently tell us that they want the police service to be more visible and accessible to them - that they want policing back in their communities.

"Having looked at our current estate, it is clear to us that we need to get rid of some property which does not meet future needs, to provide new facilities to support the concept of neighbourhood policing and to do so in the most cost-efficient way possible."

The authority said it would not reveal which buildings it planned to sell off as it would compromise any negotiations with potential buyers.