OUTLINE plans for a multi-million pound, high-tech police base on Bridgwater's outskirts have been approved.

Avon and Somerset police's basic plans for the new Express Park base were approved by Sedgemoor District Council.

More detailed proposals for the three and two-storey facility including design must be submitted in the future.

Melissa Hardwell, project director, said: "We're delighted to secure outline permission on the Express Park site, although this is still subject to judicial review.

"This site will help us transform our way of working and deliver a service that will provide better access to local communities. This site is ideally located for our specialist teams with easy access to the motorways and provides an ideal location, also for one of our three custody and crime investigation centres.

"This will enable officers to return to the streets faster and help us provide a better service to our local communities."

The hope is the new 24-hour centre will include 36 cells, admin base and operations support for Somerset West, specialist operations such as firearms storage, and will cover operations for Bridgwater, Taunton and Weston.

This will see Bridgwater's present police station close, with its behind-the-scenes operations, including custody cells move to the new centre.

The existing station's public side, where people report crimes, would move to a smaller, unknown town centre location.

Avon and Somerset has said there "will still be a strong police presence in town" and closure will not happen until the Express Park base is ready.

Despite Government cuts to reduce the national debt, the Home Office has secured about £129.2 million for the overall accommodation project, which includes Express Park along with three others.

The Home Office will provide funding for construction and costs in the form of PFI (private finance initiative) credits.

This involves a private developer providing the cash to build the facility, which it would then get back over 25 years.

An Avon and Somerset police spokesman said: "New police stations will replace those currently in Bridgwater and Taunton so there will still be a strong police presence in the towns.

"Discussions are at an early stage and no sites have been confirmed at this stage.

"The new sites will not be needed until 2014 when the Express Park facilities open."

Avon and Somerset Police Authority will fund the land acquisitions from its capital budget.

If approved construction will start in 2012 with the buildings opening from 2014.

Avon and Somerset Police Authority, an independent body of local people who oversee the constabulary's work, wants people's views on the Government's proposed changes to the way the police is governed and held to account.

The authority is using a poll on its website to gauge public opinion for some proposals outlined in Policing in the 21st Century: Reconnecting Police and the People. Questions are based on plans to replace police authorities with police and crime commissioners.

The consultation paper proposes a single commissioner elected to Avon and Somerset for a four-year term. The commissioner will be responsible for representing and identifying Avon and Somerset's policing needs.

Current police authority chairman Dr Peter Heffer believes this will lead to less meaningful influence over the police.

He said: "The day-to-day influence of 17 people including councillors and members of the community would be lost and replaced by the single interests and priorities of one elected person. There are 1.6 million people and 1,855 square miles within our force area and it takes in every kind of landscape and I can not see how an elected person in Bristol can represent and identify the policing needs of someone in Exmoor or vice versa."

Home Secretary Teresa May has said elections for commissioners would take place by May 2012.

The Policing in the 21st Century consultation period ends on September 20.

For more information visit www.aspola.org.uk.

The poll will close on Friday, September 17.