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In a remarkable cost-cutting measure, police forces have started outsourcing work to private contractors to build and run police stations.
The Financial Times (FT) reports that the first such deal of its kind has been signed between Lincolnshire Police Authority and security firm G4S.
Worth £200m over 10 years with an option for a five-year extension, the contract will see G4S not only build a new police station with a two-storey office complex and 30 cells but take on many duties formerly conducted by officers, such as drug testing offenders.
According to the FT, the station will be built using a 'hub and spokes' model, allowing additional cells to be added quickly in the event of a major disorder.
Kim Challis, managing director of G4S's government and outsourcing services division, told the FT: "It's a tangible way that we can deliver real savings to the authority, while providing police with the best facilities and technology available."
Police budgets have been cut by 20 per cent as part of government austerity measures.
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