DESPITE committing no crimes, residents have had a taste of being behind bars at Chipping Norton Police Station.

More than 80 members of the public took the chance to look around the London Road station at an open day on Saturday.

PCSO Tina Townshend, who organised the event, said: “I was overwhelmed. it started out as a small event and just grew.

“We wanted to let the community come into the station and have a look around because people don’t often get behind the front office.

“It has been a long-standing part of the Chipping Norton community.”

Residents had the chance to see cells as they were in the early 1900s, the police dogs section and traffic fleet.

Oxford Mail:

  • PCSO Tina Townshend in the cells

The open day was held because the front counter services of the police station moved to Chipping Norton Town Council offices in Market Place earlier this month.

The police station was built in 1836 by William Wilkinson, who also designed Oxford’s Randolph Hotel.