Back in January, a competition was launched for Keynsham people to come up with a name for the new £14m police centre being built in Ashmead Road.
Avon & Somerset police said they wanted the local community to help give the building a name which had a strong connection to the local area, possibly a link to a local person who had made a significant contribution to the community.
People were invited to write in with their reasons for their suggestion and police said the winner would get to see the building given their chosen name and be invited to the official opening ceremony.
But after all that, the somewhat unimaginative, although geographically accurate name that the police have chosen is…Keynsham Police Centre.
A police spokesman said: “We had relatively few suggestions from members of the public for our competition to name the new custody centre at Ashmead Road.
“We would like to thank those people that did take part, but it has been decided that we would adopt a simple and consistent naming policy for our new buildings across Avon and Somerset.”
There will not be an inquiry office at Ashmead Road but a new Keynsham inquiry office and local policing base will be co-located with B&NES Council in the new Civic Centre that is nearing completion. The inquiry office will open in the autumn and the neighbourhood team will move in next spring.
The Keynsham centre and new centres in Patchway and Bridgwater are due to open next month. Their opening marks the end of the force’s programme to centralise the custody service and provide larger, more flexible spaces for our staff. They will increase capacity in custody by 27%, enabling the police to improve custody processes so more police officers can be back on the street on patrol where they are needed, detecting crime and protecting communities.
People will have the chance to look round the Keynsham centre on Tuesday, 26th August. There will be tours at 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm and 8pm.
Each tour will last a maximum of one hour and tickets will be available to book from 8.30am on Wednesday 20th August on a first come, first served basis.
The link to book is http://keynshampoliceevent.eventbrite.co.uk
