BLACKBURN MP Jack Straw opened a new out-of-town police headquarters and urged officers not to lose touch with the public.

The Foreign Secretary welcomed the Greenbank station, on Whitebirk industrial estate, on the outskirts of Blackburn. But he said officers must compensate for its remote location.

The £7.3million station replaces the police station in Northgate, Blackburn, but will also serve Hyndburn, Ribble Valley and Darwen.

A town centre police base is expected to open in Blackburn railway station on Thursday to maintain a town centre presence.

Mr Straw hailed the station project but said: "People working in Greenbank have to compensate for the fact that they are not walking out of here and seeing the public.

"It is good news we have these headquarters. It is well suited to serve the whole of the area."

The mayors of Blackburn with Darwen, Ribble Valley and Hyndburn, Hyndburn MP Greg Pope, the Bishop of Blackburn the Rt Rev Alan Chesters, Lancashire Police Authority chairman Ruth Henig, chief constable Paul Stephenson and police officers past and present attended the opening.

Mr Stephenson said: "This represents a major investment. This was our biggest ever project and I have never been in a police station like it."