Shifnal Police Station to reopen as cafe, gardens, function rooms and advice centre

Shifnal Town Council is set to open the old police station into a community cafe and gardens, function rooms and advice centre on August 16.

There are also plans to house the town's CCTV system in the building as well as the potential to create a space for a police presence and a community bus service.

The council expressed concerns, particularly for elderly residents, that the building behind the library on Broadway would not be used to its full potential when plans to close the police station were proposed in 2013.

A grand opening event of the new community hub will run from 11am to 2pm on Friday, August 16.

Elizabeth Goodman, administration officer at Shifnal Town Council, said: "I am in the very proud position to let the public know we are going to hold a grand opening event for the reopening of the old police station in Shifnal on Friday, August 16 as a community hub."

The initiative has been partly funded as a Leader Project, financed by the Rural Development Programme for England with contributions from The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

A number of former police stations have been transformed into different types of developments across the county in recent years.

In Wem, planning permission was granted for six affordable homes at the former police station in Barnard Street in 2014.

And last year, West Mercia Police announced it has plans to close police stations in Whitchurch, Wem and Bridgnorth, along with the smaller Riverside station in Shrewsbury.

Bridgnorth has moved to co-locate with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service at Bridgnorth Fire Station on Innage Lane.

In Wem the police station will be co-located with the NHS at the Community Clinic on Aston Street, and in Whitchurch it will be at Whitchurch Community Hospital on Claypit Street.

The Shrewsbury Town Centre Police Post is being co-located with the town council in the library on Castle Street.