POLICE chiefs have made a U-turn on a decision to sell off land in Gerrards Cross used for police housing and will instead develop it into flats to encourage new recruits.

Now eight houses which have been standing vacant on the site for five years at Tatling End will be converted to provide single quarters for up to 24 officers at a cost of £586,000.

Gerrards Cross Police Station, based on the same site, currently in a state of disrepair, will also get a revamp instead of being sold off.

Thames Valley Police Chief Constable Sir Charles Pollard had recommended the move from a number of options in the light of an exodus of recruits and falling numbers applying to the force, citing house prices as a top concern.

At a meeting of Thames Valley Police Authority recently, members of the property committee rubber-stamped the move which will benefit staff in the Slough, Thames Forest and Chiltern Vale police areas.

In the mid 1990s, there was a scheme to dispose of the entire 1.72 acre site, next to the A40, and relocate the police station nearer to Gerrards Cross, but a planning application to move was turned down and the future of the site has hung in the balance until now.

Originally, police had intended to sell the land used for the eight semi-detached houses and use the money raised to pay to move the police station elsewhere.

Francis Robinson, a member of the Thames Valley Police Authority, said: "We decided to spend quite a lot of money on the Tatling End station to modernise the place, which is a good solid building."

Ben Simpson, committee chairman and deputy chairman of the authority, said: "We are committed to doing everything possible to help police staff find affordable accommodation."

He added that the authority would still have the ability to consider selling off the site at a later date if there is a change in its operational or residential requirements.