New police station proposed for Llanelli

POLICE chiefs are keen to buy land for a new police station and custody suite in Llanelli.

The plans are in the early stages but the new facility is proposed near Welsh Ambulance Service buildings in Dafen, although an exact location has not been disclosed.

Dyfed-Powys Police said the neighbourhood policing team hub in Llanelli town centre would be retained if the new station and custody suite was built.

The force’s police and crime commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn has approved a decision to pursue the purchase of a council-owned site in Dafen valued at £150,000.

A Dyfed-Powys Police spokeswoman said work was being carried out to cost the project, and more details would be known early next year.

She added: “We cannot confirm the exact location but can confirm our intentions are to build police station and custody facility, but we will retain the public-facing neighbourhood policing team hub in the town centre.”

Dyfed-Powys Police has been looking to build a new police station and custody suite in Llanelli for a while, and reviews of two sites in the Dafen area have been carried out.

A report in 2015 by the previous commissioner, Christopher Salmon, recommended that the new facility should be located by the Welsh Ambulance Service buildings.

These buildings, of Heol Aur, include a hangar for Wales Air Ambulance’s two helicopters.

Dafen councillor Rob Evans said this site would be well-suited for a new police station and custody suite.

“It’s ideal,” he said. “I support it 100%.”