A Victorian police station that still boasts two cell doors could be given a new lease of life.

Katy Arpino has applied for Listed Building Consent to convert the former Hampshire Constabulary building at Station Road, Fordingbridge, into a house.

The application says the two-storey property is a Grade II-listed building at the southern end of the Avon Conservation Area.

Quoting a book called The History of Fordingbridge it adds: "The police station was built in 1858-9, intended to provide a home for a married sergeant and an unmarried constable".

Salisbury Journal: The former police station at Hythe has also closed. The building has been boarded up, and the site is becoming overgrownThe former police station at Hythe has also closed. The building has been boarded up, and the site is becoming overgrown (Image: Newsquest.)

The application says Fordingbridge values the look of the properties in the conservation area.

"Internally, the building comprises a number of original architectural features and a good degree of historic fabric, including two original cell doors.

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"The frontage of the site contributes to the sense of place that sets Fordingbridge as a historic market town. The stonework and windows in the front sustain the appearance of the heritage asset."

The application describes the building's new use as "less intensive" than its former role as a police station.

Salisbury Journal: Lymington's former police station has been demolished to make way for retirement apartmentsLymington's former police station has been demolished to make way for retirement apartments (Image: Newsquest.)

In an email to the council, Ms Arpino says the cells housed prisoners until the late 1980s, after which they were used to store uniforms, files, and equipment.

She adds: "We understand that from 2009 the property was only open for one hour per evening for a few nights a week for enquiries, manned by one person.

"The police then closed the building in 2011 on a permanent basis."

Ms Arpino describes the old police station as unique, saying it was built as a police house for a family, complete with a living room, dining room, bedrooms, and a kitchen."

After it closed, officers moved to The Old School House in Provost Street.

Other police stations in the New Forest area have also shut, including those at Jones Lane in Hythe and Southampton Road in Lymington.