GET arrested in Wisbech from this week and the chances are you’ll be among the first to taste life in 24 newly opened police cells across the Norfolk border.

Prisoners from Wisbech and other parts of Fenland will be questioned and detained at the Police Investigation Centre which opens in Kings Lynn on Friday.

The cells at Wisbech Police Station have been closed for health and safety reasons and prisoners currently are held at March Police Station. A temporary additional cell block was added last year.

Six new centres are being built as part of a �87million joint venture between Norfolk and Suffolk Police but the Kings Lynn unit, the third to open, will take prisoners from Cambridgeshire.

A Norfolk police spokesman said: “The move brings detainee handling into the 21st century and means detainees will no longer be processed at police stations.

“The project will result in substantial performance improvement, reducing the amount of time police officers spend in custody, freeing them up to spend more time policing the streets.”

The spokesman said the new investigation centres will host CCTV facilities and smart, clean cells that will be of a consistent standard across the board. Forensic and photographic facilities are also available at each of the PICs, as is modern interview recording equipment for use by the Custody Investigation Unit (CIU) when interviewing detainees.

Detective Superintendent Gary Ridgway, the lead for the Cambridgeshire project board, said: “It has been a fascinating and rewarding process working with Norfolk and Suffolk colleagues on such a worthwhile project.”

The cells at Wisbech Police Station have been closed for health and safety reasons and prisoners currently are held at March Police Station. A temporary additional cell block was added last year.