THE blue lamp will be switched off this weekend.

The police station on North Walls is shutting after 50 years but the lamp will be illuminated at the new base at Mottisfont Court on the corner of the High Street and Tower Street.

Simon Hayes, Police and Crime Commissioner and Andy Marsh, Hampshire Chief Constable, will officially mark the opening with a ribbon cutting in front of the newly renovated building at 9.15am on Monday November 16.

The North Walls base was opened in 1966 as a replacement to the old Winchester City police station at the Guildhall where officers had been based since the late 19th century.

The neighbourhood policing teams and police community support officers will be based at Mottisfont Court, closer to the city centre.

North Walls will be sold off as part of the PCC’s cost-cutting Estate Strategy.

Hampshire Constabulary has already cut £55 million in the last four years and must save a further £25 million by 2017.

Southampton University, is a potential buyer for the North Walls site as it is next door to the School of Art. Housing developers will also view it as a prime site.