GLOUCESTERSHIRE'S new multi-million pound custody facility is nearing completion.

It will be officially opened next week and is due to become operational by the end of the month.

Based on the Waterwells Business Park at Quedgeley, the building has been named Compass House and will replace ageing cells in Gloucester and Cheltenham which are long overdue for replacement.

The project was first proposed around ten years ago but was threatened by rising costs and indecision.

When Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl was elected he capped the cost at £12,429,821 and the project began to take shape.

Mr. Surl said, “I wanted to be satisfied it was the long term answer to our custody problem at the best price we could get.

"It will meet the needs of the constabulary and the wider justice system whilst the contemporary design will fit in well with the environment and the other buildings in the area.”

The ‘official’ opening ceremony will take place on Wednesday and will be performed by former Cabinet Minister Jonathan Aitken.

“Jonathan Aitken is an author, broadcaster, columnist, lecturer and campaigner for prison reform. Many, though, will remember him as a former Cabinet Minister, Member of Parliament and ex-prisoner - and it is in that latter capacity I have invited him to open Compass House”, said Mr. Surl.

“It is a matter of record that his political career ended when he told a lie on oath in a libel action and after pleading guilty to charges of perjury he served a seven-month prison sentence in 1999.

"In a manner I think we should applaud and respect, he has turned that experience to good use.

“Amongst other things, he is now an enthusiastic campaigner for restorative justice, a director of Prison Fellowship International and a patron, president or trustee of several Criminal Justice charities including NACRO, Caring for Ex-Offenders and Blue Sky.

“With his intimate knowledge and understanding of the Criminal Justice System I hope his presence will also send an important message to offenders and anyone thinking of offending.”