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By Elizabeth Kay and Dave Gudgeon

RESIDENTS north of the River Eden on the outskirts of Carlisle have launched a protest against police plans to site a custody unit for arrested prisoners near their homes.

Hundreds of people are signing a petition against the proposals to build the prefabricated custody suite on the Northern Traffic Unit base in Houghton.

They are claiming large numbers of prisoners will be released into their communities once they are bailed or discharged as it is not normal practice for police to provide transport.

Local shops and pubs would also have a ready supply of alcohol that could tempt released prisoners to linger in the area.

Residents fear the elderly would be more vulnerable to attack, the unit will lead to more traffic and the nearness of the unit would devalue their homes.

Cumbria Police has submitted a formal planning application to Carlisle City Council seeking permission for the temporary unit it says it needs following January’s floods when its Rickergate police station, which used to house prisoners, was swamped by 8ft of water.

Prisoners have been housed in cells in Penrith, Carlisle Crown Court and Kendal since January while the police moved to hastily-arranged substitute bases at Citadel Row and Portland Place and at a satellite base in Harraby.

Now the police are also considering plans for a new North Cumbria headquarters that could also be built on the Houghton site – a location that would cut out city centre traffic and give police easier access to the M6.

The constabulary has won £1.2 million of Government funding to help it recover from the city’s floods and it will use some of this money to construct the custody unit.

Residents are now collecting petitions against the move.

On Wednesday, petition collectors attended a meeting of Stanwix Rural Parish Council which has agreed to call an open public meeting in the next few weeks. Cumbria Police will be asked to attend.

Local Joanne Bauer said people were primarily concerned about released prisoners who could not be monitored in the same way in the city centre because the area lacked CCTV cameras.

Fellow resident Sarah Brown said she was worried that released prisoners would make their way from the unit just as unaccompanied local children were leaving school.

One woman, who did not wish to be named, said: “I know people will say that we are Nimbys [Not In My Back Yard] and yes, we probably are. But we have very real concerns over this custody unit.

“It could possibly involve 65 cells.

“We understand that it is normal police practice that prisoners will be released at the door. There will be no transport to take them elsewhere.

“This means that many of them will linger, with easy access to alcohol in a pub and two shops. We have heard talk that a taxi service may be engaged but what authority would a taxi driver have over these people?

“This is a residential area and there are many families with young children and elderly people. We believe their safety and the security of the area will be at greater risk.”

Neil Rhodes, assistant chief constable, said: “I appreciate that any new development is bound to cause concern.

“A police garage and a significant number of road policing vehicles have operated from the Houghton base for many years. For many residents that police presence has been a reassurance and we would hope that any increased use of the site with increased visibility of officers would only serve to bolster that reassurance.

“The loss owing to storm damage of Rickergate has meant we have had to reappraise policing services and we have decided the premises are no longer suitable for either custody provision or as the area headquarters.

“The Houghton site, which is owned and currently used by the police, offers the most suitable location for emergency custody facilities and it also a potential site for a headquarters.

“We do anticipate that once this custody unit is in place there will be additional police journeys and a small number of visits by solicitors and the family and friends of the detained persons. We do not think this will cause any real problem.

“When a person’s detention is at an end we cannot insist that they accept police transport back to the centre of town or their place of arrest. It is our experience that many prisoners will be collected by families or take a taxi.”

Cumberland News