A POLICE station could be relocated outside the town it serves in a bid to save about £5.4m over the next three decades.

Plans have been aired to sell Malton’s police station on Old Malton Road and move to purpose-built premises at a new agri-business centre and business park next to the nearby Eden Camp wartime theme museum.

Talks are also underway with Yorkshire Ambulance Service, which also has a station in Old Malton Road, for a shared facility.

The estimated annual revenue savings of £180,000 would be used to invest in staff and policing.

Acting Deputy Chief Constable Paul Kennedy said they were exploring a number of options surrounding the future of Malton police station and no decision had yet been made.

He added: “The predicted 30-year savings for this project is about £5.4m, which is money we can invest in people and providing an even higher quality of policing to the communities we serve.”

However local councillor Paul Andrews said: “Taking the police station away from where people can walk to it is, in my view, a retrograde step. I am also concerned about the future of the current police station.

“One hopes the intention is not to generate cash by developing the site for housing and so increasing traffic congestion in Malton.”