Northamptonshire's police and fire 'back office' services will be brought under shared estates in 10-year plan

A 10-year plan has been announced to bring Northamptonshire's police and fire offices together under the same roof.

Over the next decade, the county's two emergency services will retire old buildings and renovate new ones in a bid to bring its offices up to standard.

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold says it will save more money than renovating the force's existing buildings - which in some cases are in need of some £1.5million worth of maintenance.

He said: “Buildings in both the police and fire estate are ageing and we face a bigger repair bill each year.

"Our buildings have been underinvested in for a number of years while we - quite rightly - invest in our frontline services.

"This plan reflects an opportunity to overhaul the estate and ensure that we invest in buildings that meet the needs of local people and the business that

both organisations carry out in an affordable way that allows us to invest as much money into the delivery of frontline services as we can."

Mr Mold could not detail which buildings are being considered for retirement or to be bought - but clarified that the headquarters in Wootton Hall would not be closing as a result of the plan.

All told, the 10-year plan could cost as much as £20million - but Mr Mold says this is "much smaller" than the costs of repairing the two forces' ageing stock of buildings.

It means the back office services will be brought together on estates across the county, and will lead to both the fire and police control rooms operating on the same site.

Mr Mold: “We want all the officers and staff of both services to be based in a comfortable, productive, working environment and to be able to make use of the most modern working practices.

“These plans are at a very early stage and we will be involving the officers and staff of both organisations, as well as the public, as we work through the process of making them a reality.”