Wisbech police station and former courthouse are up for sale

Wisbech Police Station and the adjoining former courthouse building are to be auctioned off later this month.

The property will go under the hammer at the Oliver Cromwell Hotel, March, on Thursday, February 23 and is expected to fetch between £150,000 and £200,000.

The whole building in Lynn Road is on offer as a single lot. It includes the operational police base which comes with Cambridgeshire Police Authority as a sitting tenant and the one-time magistrates court which is available with vacant possession and potential for change of use.

Particulars released by the auctioneers, Maxey Grounds, reveal that the police station, yard and part of a car park are subject of a long term lease to the Constabulary at a lease of £1 a year until 2094.

It is suggested that future uses for the former courthouse could include business, leisure, storage or redevelopment - subject to planning approval.

The courthouse saw justice dispensed for decades until it closed about 12 years ago as part of a government cost-cutting exercise. The workload was transferred to courts at King’s Lynn. Huntingdon and Peterborough.

The space in this part of the building includes a ground floor entrance hall with lift, double height courtroom with dock, press and jury benches, robing room and various offices. On the first floor are seven further rooms including the former court gallery.

The police station has recently been refurbished by the police authority and includes a cellar which once housed the cells under the courthouse and is now used for storage.

It is described as being an imposing building in a prime position in the town, close to shops and amenities.

Senior partner with Maxey Grounds, John Maxey, said: “There has been a lot of interest.”