Outline plans have been lodged to transform the former Felixstowe police station into 18 apartments.

The estates team at Suffolk Constabulary submitted plans to Suffolk Coastal District Council to convert the former police station buildings in High Road West, Felixstowe.

Police vacated the building after Felixstowe Fire Station was specially adapted to be a shared base for police and fire services in 2017, as part of a wave of joint blue-light hubs to be formed across the county.

It left the base in Felixstowe one of a handful earmarked for conversion or demolition across east Suffolk, as part of cost cutting measures for the force.

Now, outline planning permission has been sought to turn the vacant buildings into 18 apartments ranging from one to three bed properties.

The application said: “This application seeks the outline planning application to provide a total of 18 residential apartments within the two existing redundant police buildings and the new build of a semi detailed house following the demolition of the existing flat roofed garage/out buildings, together with associated parking, open space and landscaping.

The papers added: “Given the studies already carried out regarding the re-use of the site commercially which have proven unviable, the use of the site for residential purposes are appropriate and in keeping with the largely residential surroundings.”

The plans are currently in the consultation phase and are set to be decided this summer.

It follows early scoping work for the potential sale of the Martlesham police HQ site to develop 250 homes.

It has not yet been disclosed how much the Felixstowe site may be worth, but land occupied by the derelict Woodbridge police station sold for £1.1million in March 2017.

Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore has been approached for comment, but at the opening of the shared base in Felixstowe last year, said: “Working together with other blue-light services is absolutely key to meeting the financial challenges that we face.

“The existing shared stations across the county are working really well and we are seeing the benefits of reduced operating costs and improved joint working between our two key emergency services.”