Detective Chief Inspector Paul Myers with his father Walter, who previously worked in CID. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
When the West Parade police station in Lincoln closed last week it signalled the end of an era, particularly for one local family who share more than 50 years of policing memories.
The Lincolnite took a tour of the building on Thursday, November 21 which, after years of daily hustle and bustle, resembled a ghost town with abandoned desks and empty custody suites.
Known by many locals as the ‘Ryvita building’, its future is yet to be decided by the county’s Police and Crime Commissioner.
Lincoln Police Station on West Parade. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
His father Walter Myers, 82, worked in CID after joining the force in 1961. He was previously based at Sessions House on Monks Road before moving to West Parade.
Walter was one of the first staff to move into the West Parade building when it opened in October 1975, and fondly recalls the family feeling at both bases.
Lincoln Police Station on West Parade was opened in October 1975. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Inside Lincoln Police Station. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
‘Like a big family’
Walter Myers joined Lincolnshire Police in 1961. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Walter told The Lincolnite: “We dreaded leaving Sessions House and coming here as it was good and homely. Some people liked moving at the time, but I thought it was better here. It was like a big family.
“Being here brings back a lot of memories. We had some good times and we had a good social club, which they haven’t got now.
The custody suite at Lincoln Police Station on West Parade. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
“It’s more efficient with the gear they’ve got now to what we had. When we first got a personal radio we had one which we spoke into and another in our ear, I could never cope with all this technology.
“When I started if you took somebody’s fingerprints, the bloke used to go down on a motorbike to Scotland Yard and have them checked out. Now he (Paul) can do it from his desk.”
The cells in the custody suite. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Inside a cell. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Following in father’s footsteps
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Myers joined the force in 1990. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Paul, who previously working as a plumbing and heating engineer, said: “I have a lot of happy memories here. My father was here before me so I used to come here as a child back in the old days when it was a real family friendly environment. I used to come and use the gymnasium and play pool and use the canteen, so I go back 44 years in this building.
“It is happy, busy, with a lot of people working together as a team facing a lot of challenges, but this place invokes a lot of views. Some people don’t like what it looks like, but I’ve always loved it here.
An interview room. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
This was used as the old force control room at West Parade until the late 1990s. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
“It’s got heart to it and it’s where I feel I’m at home and it’s where I’ve spent most of my life. When I started my dad had already retired, but there were a lot of people that knew him, so that was a nice connection.
“It’s the end of an area. This building has been part of not only our lives, but lots of other officers and the community as well. Anyone that’s lived within a few 100 yards of this building has known a lot of people that have worked here, people would socialise with us and come up to the social club, that’s how it was when I started.”
Paul was lucky enough to take on his dad’s collar number from his days in the force. Walter’s collar number used to be 90 at the Lincoln City force and when it amalgamated with Lincoln County and Grimsby it became 1190.
Paul also met his wife Emma at the coffee machine at Lincoln Police Station. She retired last year after working as a Detective Inspector in the Public Protection Unit.
The car park at Lincoln Police Station on West Parade. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The building belongs to the office of the Lincolnshire Police Crime Commissioner. It officially closed to the public on November 17 with more services wound down in the coming weeks, and police are expected to be fully moved out by early December.
Lincolnshire PCC Marc Jones previously commissioned a group of local businesses – Investors in Lincoln — to do a feasibility study on the options for the building.
See the rest of our gallery inside the station:
Inside the TEO (town enquiry office) at Lincoln Police Station on West Parade. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The cell call system. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
This was one of the popular desks in the office due to its Cathedral views. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Police lockers. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The custody suite. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The holding cell at the police station on West Parade. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Inside the holding cell. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Inside Lincoln Police Station on West Parade. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincnolnite
Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Lincoln Police Station on West Parade is now closed to the public. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Outside Lincoln Police Station on West Parade. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
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The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
A group of young people threw fireworks and food during a disturbance in Market Deeping and police are now looking to reduce anti-social behaviour with a dispersal order in the market town.
Fireworks were thrown at a takeaway shop and at other vehicles during the incident, which happened on the High Street at around 10.30pm on Saturday, May 1.
Officers managed to deal with the group who were believed to be drunk and are acting to avoid a repeat of the anti-social behaviour this weekend.
As a result, the local policing team has put a dispersal order in place in the town centre during the night of Friday and Saturday, May 7 and 8.
This will give officers the power to arrest anyone who doesn’t leave the scene if asked to do so.
Inspector Gary Stewart said: “We will have additional officers on duty this weekend which will help us to engage with pubs and those out to enjoy the night-time economy, and hopefully this will help us to prevent any incidents from occurring.
“Licensees must ensure that they are not serving people who are already drunk. This is illegal and doing so can create significant problems like we saw last weekend.
“We also ask that customers looking to enjoy a few drinks in the town this weekend do so sensibly. We would rather these people go home happy than end up in a custody suite.”
Nearly a third of Lincolnshire residents have received their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, but the number of jabs being given out dropped by 17% last week, according to the latest figures.
Data released on Thursday shows altogether 634,706 jabs have taken place in the county between December 8 and May 2 — a further 38,553 in the last week, and down on the 46,631 jabs given the week before.
The latest figures show that some 443,360 Lincolnshire residents have received their first vaccine dose (70%) and 191,346 have been given their second (30%).
Of those over the age of 45, a total of 365,828 have received their first vaccination and another 168,943 have had their second.
Some 77,532 people aged under 45 received their first dose, with a further 22,403 receiving a second jab so far. This includes those aged between 16 to 64 who are clinically vulnerable and at more risk of serious symptoms of coronavirus.
Office for National Statistics estimates put the total adult (16+) Lincolnshire population at 629,926, meaning that around 70.38% of residents have now received their first jab and 30.37% their second.
In North Lincolnshire, a total of 143,459 (47,259 second doses) vaccines have been distributed and 117,722 (33,302 second doses) have received a jab in North East Lincolnshire.
On Wednesday, the first hospital death in 17 days was recorded in Lincolnshire, while in Northern Lincs there have been no hospital deaths recorded in more than three weeks. There were 17 hospital patients across the entire region with COVID-19. Low hospitalisations and death figures are a major factor in how the vaccine’s success is recorded.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics have revealed that vaccine take up in the Over-50s is lower among ethnic minorities, those living in deprived areas, the disabled and those who did not speak English well or at all.
The full list of sites operating as vaccination hubs in Lincolnshire so far:
Hospital Hubs
United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust
Lincoln County Hospital
Boston Pilgrim Hospital
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust
A Lincoln man who returned to selling cannabis by post has been given a last chance to avoid going back to prison.
George Holmes, 48, was jailed for two years in 2016 after he was caught despatching vacuum sealed bags from post offices in North Hykeham and the south of Lincoln.
Holmes, who was then living at an address in Victoria Street, Bracebridge, was traced after sending out packages from Swanpool post office and then being spotted using a nearby cash machine.
Lincoln Crown Court heard at that time Holmes was such a prolific customer at Hykeham post office that staff openly referred to him as “the cannabis man” as they could smell the contents of his parcels.
Subsequent investigations revealed that customers were making regular payments directly into his bank account and concealing the transaction under the heading of computer repairs.
Holmes was jailed for 24 months for the drugs offences in March 2016 but again came to the attention of the authorities in the Summer of 2019.
Caroline Bradley, prosecuting, said: “On July 19, 2019 the post office reported to the police that they had intercepted 18 packages which they suspected to contain cannabis.”
Miss Bradley told the court eleven packages containing cannabis were recovered during the investigation and police searched Holmes’ flat.
“There was some organisation in this case,” Miss Bradley added.
During his police interview Holmes denied supplying drugs and claimed that no-one else had been in his flat for several months.
However Holmes, now of St Rumbold Street, Lincoln, later pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
The court heard Holmes was now free of his previous heroin addiction and had been making great progress for four months since moving to a settled address at the YMCA.
Neil Sands, mitigating, told the court: “They regard him as a model tenant.”
Recorder Michael Auty QC told Holmes: “You were going back to what you did in 2016.”
The Recorder agreed to defer sentence on Holmes for six months but warned him that he would return to jail if he did not stay clean or committed any other offences.
Recorder Auty added: “You have been to jail, and jail did not cure you.”
Holmes agreed to sentence being deferred for six months. Mr Sands added: “He would like the chance to prove he can be a model citizen.”
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