PLANS to build a police station on Kinson village green have been shelved and Winton police station looks set to provide the new base.

Dorset Police Authority's plan to replace the Kinson police station in Dominion Road with a new station on the green, faced stiff opposition from councillors and residents who said the village green should remain as open space.

And ten years since the plans for the new station were proposed, they have been scrapped.

Now a planning application has been put forward proposing expansion of Winton police station to provide a base for the Kinson beat team.

Tracey Hall, public relations officer for Dorset Police, said: "We've been working on the Kinson Green and we've had to look at alternative ways of policing Kinson.

"The existing police station at Winton will be expanded to cover both sections. But we will still have a highly visible presence in Kinson. We will continue to operate out of Kinson with some kind of shop front inquiry office.

"The closure won't be happening in the near future. We have to make sure that there are facilities at Winton for the local Kinson beat team.

"We're disappointed because we've spent much time on this and everybody wanted a new police station."

Kinson councillor Dennis Gritt said: "We campaigned for ten years that they shouldn't build on the green but that they should still have a high profile presence in the village.

"I'm all in favour of modernisation of Winton and making sure it's operational but that should not be at the expense of the Kinson area. I would not like to see any erosion of the facilities given to the Kinson section.

"We've been told that although the police station will close to the public it will still be kept on as an operational base."