HAMPSHIRE'S oldest police station is open for business again after a refit to make it more user friendly for customers and officers alike.

Fordingbridge police station was built in the 1850s and has been extended at least twice.

This summer's revamp led to officers manning a temporary reporting desk in nearby Provost Street while officers were based at Ringwood police station.

Now the doors are again open to the public and IT experts are linking in the computers to bring the station on-line again.

Making the building accessible to people suffering from disabilities has been the key to the £45,000 project.

The small step down from the pavement has been turned into a slope, there's a big button at wheelchair height to operate the automatic door into the foyer and, once the left turn has been made into the front office, there is a desk top area to allow wheelchair users to get close to the counter.

The light and airy room is in corporate colours of two-tone blue with clean light-coloured wood.

Duty officers are protected from violent customers by toughened glass screens.

A new addition is a private interview room alongside the front office to allow people to report delicate matters without fear of being overheard.

Away from the public area, new furniture replaces some that was possibly as old as the police station itself.

But many original features have been kept, including the vaulted ceilings in the passages, novel ventilation system for the two cells, which are no longer in use, and the prisoners' call bells.

Also retained, but hidden under a metal manhole cover, is a well into which, it is rumoured, prisoners have thrown many objects over the years.

The refurbishment demonstrates the constab-ulary's commitment to policing in Fordingbridge, said Sgt Tim Adams.

In the autumn the roof is due for a makeover.

First published: August 26