A POLICE chief says his newly-completed station is the face of the future.

Redcar district commander Superintendent Ian Richards said: "We have facilities here that in the past we could only dream about. This building allows us to bring virtually everybody under one roof.''

The headquarters, at Kirkleatham Business Park, includes camera-monitored cells, a lecture theatre for training and an incident suite.

It is the first phase of a £38m project to provide Cleveland Police with some of the best facilities in the country. Included in the new package are two new town offices, at Redcar and South Bank, built under a Private Finance Initiative.

As well as serving as the headquarters for the district management team and a base for uniformed and CID officers, the building will also be used by members of Redcar and Cleveland Boough Council's community safety team.

Supt Richards said: "The latest technology has been incorporated in the design, which gives us among many other things, a video link room and electronic pads in the custody suite, which can be signed by prisoners, doing away with a lot of paper.

"The buildings in South Bank and Redcar that are to close have served us well in the past, but this is the face of the future and new town police offices will ensure we retain a police presence in our communities."

The new South Bank office, in Normanby Road at the junction with Hampden Street, will open to the public on December 11 and the new Redcar station, next to the old police station, a week later. Both buildings will provide a front desk service to the public. Their opening times will be published in due course.