New motorway police HQ officially opens in Birmingham
A new £3.2m headquarters for the police who patrol the motorway network in the West Midlands has been officially opened.
The new base for Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) has been built in Perry Barr in Birmingham.
The officers patrol more than 450 miles of motorway across Staffordshire, Shropshire, the West Midlands and Worcestershire.
CMPG also has two regional bases and a control centre.
The new facility on Thornbridge Avenue has been built opposite the site of the group's original headquarters which was opened in 1972.
Ch Supt David Jones, CMPG Commander, described the new headquarters as a "state of the art" facility.
West Midlands Police Assistant Chief Constable Garry Forsyth said: "It is fair to say that they go significantly beyond keeping people safe on the region's roads and proactively target those offenders using the network to commit their crimes."