Police Station Stalybridge.

Stalybridge Police Station lies in heart of the town centre and comes under the borough of Tameside, Cheshire.

So far we have been unable to establish when the station actually opened but do know it closed some time in 2005, it was up for auction but has now been sold for £760,000.

The station itself was a sub divisional head quarters but this has now been relocated to Ashton which is a few miles down the road.

Currently the site is still vacant and has been subject to vandalism and what looks like the work of copper thieves.

As with most Police stations the exterior is rather dull to look at and very modern and by no means an architectural work of art, but having said that they are meant to serve a purpose even if appearing unpleasing to the eye.

Despite being almost totally boarded up access was relativley easy, although the lack of natural light was rather scarce it did add to the overall ambience of the place.

Inside compramises of the usual things you would expect to find in a police station, interview rooms, cells, custody suite and doctors room, the one thing we didnt expect to find though was the officers recreation room on the top floor.

What was disappointing was the overall lack of anything of interest still in situ, but given the status of the building it hardly comes as a surprise.

Inside is virtually bare with only the basics left still standing or that which is only screwed down or to heavy to move, vandals have been into the site and have smashed everything they could, probably to show there lack of respect for the law as the area is a known trouble spot.

It also looks like copper thieves have also been there as wiring and exposed pipes are present all over as is copious amounts of asbestos.

Having never explored a Police station before it was a first for all of us, and something that appealed to us, afterall who gets the chance to see what goes on behind the scenes, unless you work there or are under arrest, and the latter you would only see the interview room and the cells.

This was the last explore of the day and a rather fitting way to end it, we had been exploring sites riddled with asbestos all day so we certainly got our use from the P3 masks.

Our first port of call was the cells, call it morbid fascination if you will but it was enjoyable as was the whole experience just a shame there wasnt more to see inside.