On New Year’s Eve the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) published details of its deal with Southwark Council to relocate the 54 officers based at Rotherhithe Police Station to the nearby Seven Islands Leisure Centre.

The front counter at Rotherhithe Police Station closed in summer 2013 but the building is still the base for the neighbourhood policing team covering the north-eastern corner of Southwark.

In October 2013 Southwark Council offered the Met £250,000 towards the cost of creating a new police base at Seven Islands, just across Lower Road from the police station.

MOPAC says that new locker rooms and showers for the police officers will be created in the redundant gym and backstage area at Seven Islands, whilst the police offices will be located in a new modular building (aka prefab or Portakabin type structure) adjoining the leisure centre.

This plan is expected to cost a total of £499,000.

MOPAC has agreed a ten-year lease with the council but the local authority has the option to terminate the agreement after five years as plans are afoot to replace Seven Islands with a new leisure centre at Canada Water.

MOPAC says that the existing Rotherhithe Police Station has a maintenance backlog estimated at £935,000.

Once Rotherhithe Police Station is empty it will be put up for sale by MOPAC.