COLEFORD'S police station will be saved if a former police superintendent gets the job of leading the county police force.

Martin Surl, who is in the running to be Gloucestershire's first Police and Crime Commissioner, says the building may even be expanded and developed in an attempt to secure the policing needs of the Forest of Dean for future generations. 

This goes against current plans to move policing to a much smaller facility within the Forest of Dean District Council's Coleford HQ.

Mr Surl says plans to close police stations in the Forest of Dean do not make operational or economic sense and having thoroughly scrutinised the constabulary's finances he is confident it is a promise he can deliver.

At 55, he is the only independent candidate working to become Glou­cestershire's Police and Crime Commissioner. He is also the only candidate with a police background. 

He first raised the issue of the closure and sale of the Forest of Dean's Police Stations in April, when he called upon the outgoing Police Authority to defer the decision until after the election. Despite resistance from the authority, he has now gathered sufficient information to make a commitment that if he is elected as Commissioner in November, Coleford Police station will not be sold or closed. 

"The Police Authority refused to reconsider the closures and seemed to be doing all they could to stop me looking for a different solution," said Mr Surl.

"I felt strongly that a big mistake was being made and that I needed to act, but I also knew I would need to research the facts and figures to prove my point.

"When I received a similar response from the Forest of Dean District Council and the Ministry of Justice which owns the adjacent court building, I fell back on my training as a detective and found that most of the answers I needed were out there anyway, they were just well hidden."

During his investigations, Mr Surl says, he discovered that Gloucestershire Police underspent by £4.5 million  last year and at the end had reserves of £18.6 million which equates to over 18 per cent of its budget.  The guideline is between just 3 and 5 per cent. 

He says he also discovered the entire yearly savings from the sale of all the Forests police stations was just £29,000, a drop in the ocean when set against the force's entire budget. And although the sale of police stations would raise cash at a time when the Constabulary is facing budget cuts, Mr Surl argues that to sell now, when the market is depressed, would be madness.

"One question the Police Authority did respond to demonstrates the folly of selling the Forest stations now," says Mr Surl. 

"It revealed that Lydney Police Station was opened in 2007 at a  cost £680,000 and yet the Police Authority has been told not to expect more than £200,000 if they sell in 2012 – a loss of £480,000.

 "Weigh  all this  against the loss of all the Forest's police buildings and the figures just don't add up – and any money raised isn't even earmarked to be reinvested in the Forest."