By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: Bath is soon set to gain a new fully-functional modern police station.
The city’s former police station closed in 2015 and police are now split between two bases. Currently Lewis House, opposite the old station on Manvers Street, houses the neighbourhood policing team and enquiry desk and bears the name “Bath Police Station” — but response teams are based further away on the Lower Bristol Road.
Now work is well underway to give Bath a proper police station once again. Avon and Somerset Police bought long-vacant office block Plymouth House on Monmouth Street in 2024 and, in October, received planning permission to turn it into the city’s new police station.
“By upgrading this centrally located building, the project seeks to strengthen the operational capabilities of the Avon & Somerset Police, ensuring that they can effectively support and safeguard the community of Bath,” stated the planning application.
A huge amount of work is set to take place to bring the building up to spec, including replacing the building’s huge amount of windows. These, along with the roof, are being replaced “to bolster security, improve energy efficiency, and enhance the overall quality of the building.”
Already, the canopy that covered the entrance has been removed in order to prevent it being used to gain “unwanted access” to the police station. The police now plan to erect new “Bath Police Station” signs, like those currently seen at Lewis House, above the entrance. These signs are currently the subject of a new planning application.
The external staircase out the back of the building is being enclosed and higher fences and a new sliding gate are being installed around the car park “to enhance security and prevent damage to police vehicles.” A bike store will also be installed to encourage police officers and staff to cycle to work.
An out of hours telephone and knife surrender bin are planned by the entrance. Inside floor plans of the police station, however, were largely redacted from the planning application documents.
Acquiring the police station was one of the last major actions of former Conservative police and crime commissioner for Avon and Somerset, Mark Shelford, before he was unseated by Labour’s Clare Moody in 2024.
The station was originally planned to open in summer 2025 but, in June of that year, that was later scaled back to summer 2026. The work is expected to take nine months and it eventually received planning permission in October 2025.
Speaking last year, chief inspector Scott Hill said: “Our priority is to provide the best service we can for the community, and that means ensuring our officers and staff have the most efficient and suitable facilities. This is what the new station at Plymouth House will give us.
“It will bring our neighbourhood and response teams under one roof, providing them with a modern, fit-for-purpose and productive place to work together in the heart of the city, enabling us to deliver outstanding policing in Bath.”
You can view and comment on the live planning application for the new signs here: https://app.bathnes.gov.uk/webforms/planning/details.html?refval=26%2F01331%2FAR#details_Section
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