DYFED-Powys Police has bought Ammanford police station, the Guardian can exclusively reveal.

A spokesman for Police and Crime Commissioner Christopher Salmon told the Guardian that the shock deal - involving a multi-million pound buy-out - was completed at the end of June and would save the force more than £3million.

The purchase of the controversial Foundry Road site has released the force from a crippling £21m Private Finance Initiative loan which left it forking out some 18 per cent of its entire annual estates budget on the station.

According to Commissioner Christopher Salmon, who previously branded the station “too costly”, the £3.1m saving will benefit “front-line policing”.

The deal has seen the Commissioner’s office take possession of the station from its commercial owners and end to the long-standing PFI contract which facilitated the building and its subsequent maintenance.

The PFI deal had seen the force tied to paying £700,000 a year - almost ten times the original build cost - to contractors Dolef, a subsidiary of Betws-based builders T Richard Jones, until 2031, when the site would be returned to the building firm.

Plagued by controversy since it opened in 2001, the station has become famous for being a state-of-the art facility that was closed for two years soon after opening with its "front desk services" replaced with a mobile van in Carregaman car park.

The station was re-opened to the public in 2013 when newly-appointed Chief Constable Simon Prince said "common sense had prevailed" and the force had "listened to the public".

Speaking to confirm the buy-out deal, Mr Salmon said: “The savings will be invested into front-line policing and keeping people safe.

“I’ve long said that the PFI deal, which I inherited on my election in 2012, did not deliver value for the public and the police.

“I said I’d leave no stone is unturned to address the issue so I instigated discussions which have now led to the change in ownership.

“They took around two years and cost around £160,000 in professional fees – but we save more than £3m against the PFI deal and that’s good news for our communities.”

The PFI contract was signed in 2000 by the former Dyfed-Powys Police Authority, which was replaced by the Police and Crime Commissioner in 2012.

The 30-year PFI agreement saw the police pay monthly sums for the building.

“What we've ended up with somehow is a state-of-the-art police station in the wrong place for the wrong price," said Mr Salmon in 2013.

“[The PFI deal] is deeply disappointing and particularly frustrating when the police service is facing tough financial times as many public services are.”

Following the revelation in this week’s Guardian that a deal had been sealed, the Commissioner said: “I’d like to pay tribute to some organisations and individuals who each played a significant role in the new agreement.

“Dolef, the building’s former owners, were professional in their approach to our discussions.

“Jayne Woods, my director of finance, worked with professionalism throughout the process.

“P2G, our consultants, gave me expert support and the benefit of great knowledge.”