A £1.5MILLION deal has been completed to buy a Hampshire building for a new police headquarters.

Hampshire Constabulary finalised the deal to buy Mottisfont Court, in Winchester, from Hampshire County Council, last Monday.

The refurbishment of the building will start in 2013 and should be completed by the end of the year. Around 200 staff will move into the building from the force’s current headquarters in West Hill, Winchester. The West Hill site, in Romsey Road, would then be sold for development.

A Hampshire Police spokesman said: “The purchase is the first significant acquisition of the force’s estate development programme, which aims to provide modern and appropriate facilities to fit the current and future policing needs, while providing the best possible service to the public and achieving value for money.”

As reported in The Gazette, the force bought Alpha Park, in Chandler’s Ford, four years ago for £9million as a replacement for the West Hill site.

But plans to move there were put on hold because of Government cuts.