Towcester: Mayor calls for 1930s police building to be listed

A town's mayor has called for a former police and court building to be given protected status before it is sold.

The building on Watling Street, Towcester, dating from the 1930s, is owned by the Northamptonshire Police and Fire Commissioner's office.

The magistrates court closed in 2011, followed by the adjoining police station in 2012.

Mayor Martin Johns has applied to Historic England for the building to be granted listed status.

Plans to put it the building on the market were delayed because the land registry needed proof it had been used as a police station "in living memory".

As part of Towcester's Master Plan, the premises have been designated a "significant building" and a landmark within the town's conservation area.

Mr Johns said: "Since I made the application to Historic England, I've been overwhelmed by comments from local people saying how important the building is to Towcester.

"Whilst it's accepted the building is perhaps no longer fit for purpose as a police station, built in the 1930's, this imposing, symmetrical building, should and must be preserved."

A decision on listed status applications can take up to six months.

Mr Johns said he would like to see the building repurposed as a residential site, school or care home.

A spokesperson for the Police and Fire Commissioner's Office said: "We were required by the land registry to confirm that the property at Towcester had been used as a police station in living memory.

"We were able to send that proof to the land registry so that we are now able to move ahead, when we are ready."

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