Landmark police station closes after 125 years

The landmark Birmingham police station which held mass murderer Fred West has closed down – ending a 125-year association with the city’s force.

West was caged in the custody block at Steelhouse Lane in the city centre. The site also housed members of the Peaky Blinders gang.

The Grade II-listed custody block, which dated from 1892, closed down last year.

Now the police station, built on the same site and opened in 1933, has also closed in a cost-cutting drive.

Watch a report on the closure by our reporter Lee Comley:

It has been replaced by a new station inside West Midlands Police’s Lloyd House headquarters in nearby Colmore Circus. New custody blocks have also been opened in Perry Barr and Oldbury.

The decision to close Steelhouse Lane, along with stations in Edgbaston and Aston, was announced in March, 2013.

Then police and crime commissioner Bob Jones said the changes would mean “substantial” savings in the longer-term.

Chief Supt Chris Johnson, of West Midlands Police, said:

Landmark police station closes after 125 years Credit: BPM media

Current commissioner David Jamieson said: