A FORMER West Somerset day centre for adults with learning difficulties could soon be taken over by the local police force.

The Seahorse Centre, in Stephenson Road, Minehead, was used by Discovery to deliver day services for vulnerable adults but closed its doors to the public in 2021.

The building, which has since remained vacant, was identified for redevelopment as part of a £19.7 million Levelling Up bid to create a new health social academy in the Bridgwater constituency, with the Minehead centre serving as a satellite site.

Now, Somerset Council has revealed it could instead be sold to Avon and Somerset Constabulary and part of the building leased back to the authority to allow the new academy to be delivered.

The unitary authority is facing a £42 million budget shortfall which is predicted only to become worse.

So, it has ordered a review of all property assets to identify buildings surplus to requirements which could be sold to generate funds to put toward front-line services.

Property rationalisation programme manager Sara Kelly told councillors: “We have a property in Minehead called the Seahorse Centre.

“It has been vacant since 2021 and we have had significant interest in it.

“We are at the advanced stages of negotiations to sell that property to Avon and Somerset Police.

“They would like to use it to house an inquiry office, a neighbourhood policing team, and their response officers.”

The force currently operates an inquiry desk at a police station in Townsend Road, Minehead, which is open all day on Mondays and Tuesdays, but is closed on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons and all weekend.

Officers needing to respond to major incidents in the town currently rely on support from Bridgwater or Taunton, both of which are nearly an hour’s drive away.

Ms Kelly said part of the Seahorse Centre would still be set aside for the Levelling Up fund project if the sale was completed.

She said: “As part of that deal, there would be a partial lease back to the council for us to deliver the satellite site for the academy for health and social care.

“Those negotiations are ongoing, but are progressing well.”

The successful Levelling Up bid, which was announced in January, will see a former community hospital in Salmon Parade, Bridgwater, revamped as a health and social care academy focussed on training and re-training healthcare personnel.

The Seahorse Centre would allow healthcare staff from the West Somerset end of the constituency to be trained and transition into roles in the predominantly rural part of the county.

Council assistant director for major and special projects Nathaniel Lucas previously said: “The delivery of the Somerset training academy for health and social care will support the under-resourced health and social care sector, providing a larger and more highly skilled workforce.

“It will also future-proof the sector as demand rises exponentially due to Somerset’s ageing population.”

The project’s funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC) was formally accepted in February, with a design team appointed in July.

A formal public consultation on the proposals for both buildings is expected to be held by the end of the year, which will result in planning applications being submitted for each site.