Inspector Paul was responding to questions about this being the first step in a clandestine move away from the attractive building on a permanent basis, thus opening the way for some sort of redevelopment and change of use for the site. Built in the 1820s and serving as Leith Town Hall in a previous life, the listed building cuts a lonely image at the moment. The front entrance is bolted shut and is emblazoned with a ‘keep out’ sign. Just to the right is a yellow locker attached to the wall, with a battered door which hangs half open to reveal a phone and a note which says: ‘If station is closed and you require assistance please use this phone.’ The view through the station windows is largely obscured by posters advertising the name of the firm which has been contracted to carry out the work on the site, although it is clear The lights are on but nobody’s home Leith’s leading police officer has spoken out to alleviate concerns over the lo cal constabula ry’s decampment from their traditional Queen Charlotte Street base to a temporary headquarters on Commercial Street. that all furniture, shelving and any sort of decoration has been removed from the building.

David is the author of 10 articles including 'The Lights Are On But Nobody’s Home' from April's Leither

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At a time when the issue of police visibility on the streets is an emotive topic of debate at both a local and national level, there is more than a hint of poignancy about the signs which have been erected around the building warning would-be vandals that CCTV is being operated in the area for ‘community safety, crime prevention and detection purposes.’ But Inspector Paul says that locals should not be too alarmed by the fact that even the police are now relying on an eye-in-the-sky to look after their own building. “I can knock that suggestion on the head, categorically,” he said, when asked about the possibility that the local force had moved out for good. “There is a commitment for the police station to remain at Queen Charlotte Street. It seems to me somebody might be looking for a story when there isn’t one there.”

“The logic is that it is a historical building and the wiring has come to the end of its useful time, so we are rewiring the place. It is as simple as that. While we are out of the place there will be some refurbishment taking place also. I suppose you could say it is a case of killing two birds with one stone.” “I think there was some discussion at some point about staying at Queen Charlotte and doing the work in stages, but anyone who has been inside the building knows that it is like a rabbit warren and I think it would have been very difficult to operate effectively when large parts of the station had been turned into a building site. It is a pretty messy process with cables being ripped out of the wall. So we decided to move out en-masse and get everything done at once.” “The service should be exactly the same as it is when we are in Queen Charlotte Street. The only difference is that we don’t have a public help counter, but unfortunately it is very hard to find a ready-made police station in the area.”

Inspector Paul added that he was confident that he and his team had done everything which could be expected of them to keep the local population informed of this move, which took effect in early January. “I’m on the board of the Leith Neighbourhood Partnership and this was discussed at length for some considerable time before it actually happened, and I know that it was detailed in the newsletters our beat officers produce for their community,” he said. “I’m not sure if the Evening News did anything on it, I don’t know if that is something they would be interested in.

We have tried to keep as many people informed as possible, but we were never going to reach everyone.

I have heard one or two reports about people turning up at Queen Charlotte Street to find the building empty, and I apologise for any inconvenience or distress this might have caused, but any suggestion that there was some sort of subterfuge involved is well wide of the mark.”

While a press release was issued by Lothian and Borders Police on 6th January, no effort was made to contact The Leither, which has a high circulation in the area and would have been more than happy to carry a public service notice.