Uxbridge police station could yet be saved from closure after local Hillingdon Council offered to buy it from City Hall and ensure it’s kept open.
The station is one of dozens being closed by the Met and Mayor Sadiq Khan as they try and absorb the latest round of budget cuts.
Councillor Ray Puddifoot, Leader of Conservative controlled Hillingdon Council, confirmed the offer during a cabinet meeting last night.
Speaking after the meeting, he said: “We were informed that the building had an estimated value of £4.5 million and that running costs were £460,000 per year.
“Our offer is to purchase the police station for £4.5 million, or the professional market valuation, and lease it to the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) for five years at a rent of £45,000 or one per cent of the purchase price.
“We will also provide a grant of £250,000 a year for five years to cover approximately 50 per cent of the running costs.
“Given that MOPAC’s current plan takes until 2020 to vacate Uxbridge Police Station, the grant of £250,000 a year, commencing in April 2018, will cover nearly 75 per cent of the proposed saving on running costs in the next five years.
“This is a genuine offer to protect and enhance the good working relationship that we have with our police colleagues and ensure that they have adequate, practical and affordable facilities from which to operate.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “We are aware and in discussion with Hillingdon Council about their proposal to buy Uxbridge police station.”
