Lewisham Police Station is a police station in

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

High Street in the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Meridian passes throug ...

History

The station was built to replace the nearby Ladywell Police Station and was one of four stations procured under a

private finance initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 199 ...

(PFI) between the

Metropolitan Police Authority The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) (2000–2012) was the local police authority responsible for scrutinising and supporting the work of the Metropolitan Police Service, the police force for Greater London (excluding the City of London Police ...

and Equion (part of the

John Laing Group John Laing Group plc is a British investor, developer and operator of privately financed, public sector infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, hospitals and schools through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Private Finance Initiative ...

). The contract was signed in October 2001, and was valued at £120 million, of which Lewisham accounted for approximately £30 million. Construction began on 26 November 2001, on the site of the old Army & Navy Store on Lewisham High Street, and the new building was

topped-out In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a Builders' rites, builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony ...

on 17 July 2002. It was official opened by

Sir John Stevens John Arthur Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, (born 21 October 1942) was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (head of the Metropolitan Police Service) from 2000 until 2005. From 1991 to 1996, he was Chief Constable of Northum ...

, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, on 16 April 2004.

Facilities

The station is the largest purpose-built police station in Europe, and contains the largest

custody suite {{Unreferenced, date=June 2011 A custody suite is an area within a police station in the United Kingdom designed and adapted to process and detain those who have been arrested, or who are there for purposes such as answering bail. Historically, all ...

in the Metropolitan Police, as well as stables for 36 police horses and a multi-storey car park.

References

External links

{{Commons category, position=left Police stations in London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Lewisham