MANY people have the right idea that the proposed centralised Durham police custody suite is a waste of money. For a start, Spennymoor is not what I would call central.

Suppose officers arrest someone at Barnard Castle or Seaham. It is not the done thing to escort a prisoner to custody unless you have two officers. If there are more than two prisoners, as there often are, one officer keeps the second prisoner under observation while waiting for the escort to come back after being away for an hour or more.

I can see some nights when all the police on duty are escorting instead of policing.

I was a custody officer for many years and found some of the regulations made the job very difficult.

Henry Napier, Horden, County Durham.