All mod cons in new police cellblock

Sep 25 2008 by Andrew Hirst, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

All mod cons in police cellblock

PEOPLE arrested in Huddersfield will now be locked up at Dewsbury police station.

The cells beneath Huddersfield Magistrates’ Court are shut for major renovation work.

In a pioneering move for West Yorkshire an entire new state-of-the-art cell block has been lifted by huge cranes into the yard at Dewsbury police station.

The block more than doubles cell capacity at the station from 13 to 27.

For the next six months anyone arrested in Kirklees will be taken to Dewsbury – even if detained in places as far away as Golcar and Holmfirth.

Chief Insp Ged McManus, who is in charge of the operation and the Dewsbury area, said: “This means if you are arrested in Huddersfield for being drunk and disorderly on a Saturday night, you’ll wake up on Sunday morning at Dewsbury police station. Once you’re released you’ll then have to find your own way home. This kind of modular cell project is a first for West Yorkshire.

“When people talk of temporary buildings, often the first thought is a mobile classroom. This cell area is definitely not that.’’