PLANS to shut prison cells in four East Lancashire police stations have been unveiled, leaving officers moving people they have arrested for miles before they are locked up.

Two state-of-the-art custody suites are currently being created in Blackburn and Burnley, both of which will include glass cells for high-risk prisoners.

Police chiefs at Lancashire Police's HQ in Preston confirmed for the first time today that it will result in other police stations losing their cells.

Accrington and Clitheroe police stations will no longer have manned custody suites, meaning all arrested people will have to be taken to the new multi-million Greenbank police station, due to open next year. There will not be any cells in the new police station being opened in Blackburn town centre either.

In Pennine Division, Colne police station's custody suite will shut and all prisoners dealt with at an expanded custody suite at Burnley police station.

Rawtenstall police station's cells are already out of action, meaning arrested people from Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale will go to Burnley.

And one custody suite will also serve the whole of Chorley, Leyland and Preston.

It has not yet been decided which of those stations will house the new custody suite, although Leyland's cells are newer.

Each of the new custody suites will have more cells than the all of the ones they are replacing put together,.

But David Brindle, director of corporate services at Lancashire Police, admitted that having to ferry prisoners further was an issue which had been taken into consideration.

He said: "Overall, there are more positives than negatives about having a central custody suite in each division.

"Custody staff have to have special skills these days and having new central suites ensures we can have a much higher standard of accommodation and it also makes it much safer.

"We have to try to reduce things like deaths in custody.

"Currently, officers sometimes have to come off the beat to man a custody desk, which may not be that busy.

"It means having to transport arrested people further but, on balance, it should make things a lot better."

One of the cells in Burnley and two of the cells at Greenbank will be used for vulnerable prisoners who have been assessed as most likely to cause harm to themselves.

The cells have large windows and can be monitored by custody staff at all times.