A £5 MILLION police headquarters building may become a casualty of the floods, with the county force admitting it could be replaced.

The Hall Brow station in Workington has been swamped with water twice in six years – and documents reveal a long-term plan involves a new base.

This is the most dramatic potential consequence for the force in the wake of December’s floods, the effects of which are spelled out in a top-level report.

It reveals the toll taken on stations in the extreme weather, with flooding happening at a number of bases, including the county headquarters, near Penrith.

The flood led to the Workington station, which only opened in 2001, losing the use of its ground floor accommodation, including the cells in the custody suit. These have now reopened.

The fall-out from the weather is revealed in an update of the force’s buildings strategy, which is up for discussion at a meeting of senior crimefighting figures today.

The report states: “The Workington site is an ongoing area of concern as this is the second time it has flooded in six years. While the work undertaken during the last refurbishment to improve resilience has, in part, been successful, the station lost all its ground floor accommodation, including custody suite. 

"An emerging priority of this strategy is to consider a replacement of this station.”

The Hall Brow station opened 15 years ago to replace the town’s ageing Nook Street station. But this replacement base was hit in the floods of winter 2009, with damage caused to the reception and cells.

Details have not emerged about where or when a replacement station may be built.

On the current situation across the county, the report adds: “The constabulary estate has a number of properties which are at risk of flooding. Much of the work of previous estates strategies has focused on reducing this, either through undertaking flood defence work or disposing of high-risk property.”

There was flooding, to differing degrees, at stations at Ambleside, Appleby, Kendal and the county headquarters.