POLICE have held talks about a possible move into council offices in Selby but no decision on the future of the town's police station has yet been made, officials have said.

In April, The Press reported North Yorkshire Police were considering their estates and buildings as part of an ongoing efficiencies exercise, but no decision had been made.

Recently, rumours of a sale of the building had arisen in the town, along with the suggestion officers would move into the civic centre with Selby District Council, but officials said this was still not the case.

Deputy Chief Constable Tim Madgwick, the force's operational lead for estates, said policing was "all about people not properties", and while a decision on the future of Selby's police station had not been made, there could be a decision in the future.

He said: "North Yorkshire Police has more than 70 properties, many of which are under-used, under-occupied or expensive to run. In common with other police forces and public services, we are facing significant financial challenges, so it is common sense to look at where we can make savings on our estate.

"We need to make further savings to our budget,and we are being very open about the fact that we expect to reduce the number of properties we own - or occupy solely - over the course of the next few years.

"We need to focus our funding on frontline local policing, not maintaining an estate, and the investment we are making in IT will allow officers to spend more time out in the community without having to be tied to a station."

Mr Madgwick said the force was "exploring a number of ideas in a number of locations", and looking at where the force might share a building with other organisations.

He said: "If we do go down that route, it might mean changing the administrative base for some officers, but as they would still continue to work out on their usual patrols, it would mean very little – if any – change on the ground.

"In relation to moving into the council offices in Selby, we have had some very initial discussions to see what might be possible, but we are still at an early stage of our thinking. No proposals have been drawn up at this point."

Julia Mulligan, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, said the Government's reduction of policing funds "inevitably leads to difficult decisions", but no decision had been made on the future of Selby's station.

She said: "I will do absolutely everything to protect local, neighbourhood policing teams, which means looking to save money in other parts of the budget like buildings. We need to remember it is people and not buildings which protect the public, and in the future, North Yorkshire Police officers will be spending more time on the beat than ever thanks to increased mobile working and better technology.”

"In the meantime though, there have been no substantive discussions about closing local stations in Selby at all, aside from the potential co-location of the Selby station itself with the local council, which potentially makes both policing and financial sense. To reiterate, no decisions have been made about other local stations in the Selby district."