Halesowen police station to close in 2021 – despite rumours it was to stay open permanently

Confusion reigned over the site today as Halesowen and Rowley Regis MP James Morris announced the station had been saved following a meeting with local officers, but West Midlands Police then confirmed hours later that it would close in the coming years.

The station was originally earmarked for closure in 2015.

Mr Morris said officers at the station believed the site was to stay open permanently after new units moved in recently and the local neighbourhood policing team was told to stop looking for a new base.

But West Midlands Police has confirmed it will close at the end of the force's six-year estates programme, which began in 2015.

The station had an official closure date of January 31 2017 but this has been and gone with the station still very much open, albeit with no front desk for the public.

Halesowen and Rowley Regis MP Mr Morris said the saga over the future of the station has caused ‘more than three years of worry and confusion for local residents, and placed doubt on the base for local police teams’.

He was led to believe the station had been saved, stating: “Following a meeting with local police I am pleased that Halesowen station will remain open, and new teams will be using the site, including the West Midlands police driving school. This is good news for Halesowen, and will reassure local residents.”

However West Midlands Police said in a statement: "West Midlands Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner are planning to free-up £5 million a year to invest in improving police buildings and protect 100 officer posts.

"As part of the programme, which is set to run for six years, no police building currently open to the public will close without first being replaced by a more efficient one nearby.

"Halesowen police base − which is not open to the public - will remain in place until the end of the estates programme at which point it will close as originally announced.

"Like many historic police buildings, Halesowen is large, under-utilised and expensive to run. The proposal to close the base does not mean residents lose a police presence in their area and teams will continue to work and patrol in the community as they do now.

"While disposing of police buildings is never an easy decision to make, the plan will improve efficiency and ensure more officers are able to remain in post in the West Midlands force area."