Proposals to build a new specialist custody centre at Wandsworth police station have been announced.

The proposed site - on Wandsworth High Street - will be a modern, purpose built centre which will house 30 cells and other facilities such as interview rooms, consultation rooms and a search suite.

It will replace cells at the three current custody centres across the borough and will reduce the need for officers to travel between sites, and make them able to dedicate more time to policing the streets.

Chief Superintendent David Musker said: “By locating the cells at a strategic point in the borough, we will be able to save money, improve efficiency and enable more frontline policing.”

The full planning application is being submitted to Wandsworth Council this autumn, and subject to planning approval, construction is aimed to start in spring 2011, with it being completed and fully operational by June 2012.

As yet, there are no projections of how much the new centre it will cost.

The new centre is part of police plans to try and separate the various functions of policing from one single location, to more independent and focused locations.

Although the new centre will not include a counter service, there are plans to build a new Safer Neighbourhoods base for the ward at Hardwick Way, which will provide a 24-hour counter service that will replace and improve the counter service currently provided at Wandsworth police station.