TROUBLEMAKERS in High Wycombe could have to spend a night in the cells elsewhere while the facilities at Wycombe are refurbished.

An application was submitted to Wycombe District Council this week to extend the existing custody area.

If the application is approved, anyone arrested in Wycombe will have to be taken to police stations in Amersham, Maidenhead or Aylesbury while the work is carried out as a result of the cells being shut.

But Wycombe Police Station, in Queen Elizabeth Road, will remain open while the work goes on.

Marianne Shaw, communications officer for Thames Valley Police, said the work would bring the cells up to modern standards, rather than provide more cells for people in custody.

Two more support rooms will be incorporated into the plans, but these will not be used to hold people in custody.

A decision on whether to approve the plans should be made at the end of March, with work expecting to last for up to a year.