Hertfordshire Constabulary will be looking to demolish eight buildings to build a more modern and larger block at its headquarters.

A planning application will be put forward to the council in the next year for the redevelopment of the police headquarters in Stanborough Road, Welwyn Garden City.

And if the plans are given the final approval next year, building work could start in 2021 and take approximately three years to complete.

Several modern buildings will be kept on the site. But three of the large administration blocks and five smaller buildings - all built in the early 1970s - could be demolished.

Watford Observer:

HQ redevelopment sketch. Photo: Hertfordshire Constabulary

They will be replaced with a new 8,500 metre squared, three-storey building which will be less costly to build and run than the cost of keeping the existing builds.

Police and crime commissioner for Hertfordshire David Lloyd said: “The current HQ buildings have reached the end of their economic life and expensive and inefficient to run.

“The new facilities are designed to remain fit for purpose for the next sixty years.”

The project aims to create a Community Safety Hub, combining the headquarters with office space for other partners in the county.

Currently operating on the site are the senior officer and command teams, the force control room and units including Major Crime, Scientific Services and Victim Services.

Chief constable Charlie Hall said: “The capacity for shared accommodation with partners has the potential to provide further improvements in joined up services for our public, alongside better working conditions for our staff.”