A COUPLE who 'fell in love' with Sandymoor are cancelling a move from Kent after hearing about the proposed police custody suite.

Julian Hodges and Sam Newton planned to move to Walsingham Drive on the Runcorn estate.

Julian said: "We don't want a house that will lose thousands of pounds overnight thanks to Halton Council giving the go-ahead to this proposed building."

Mr Hodges contacted the World after reading about the police plans for Sandymoor on our website.

The couple wanted to move because Sam's family are from the Runcorn area, the living costs are cheaper and because of Sandymoor's 'picturesque' setting.

He added: "I'd personally like to thank the planner and the police for possibly destroying the dream we had and for causing considerable uncertainty for the people we are buying off."

Chris Riley, a spokesperson for Save Our Sandymoor, said: "He spent a lot of time looking round and he thought it was a lovely area and now he's found this will be on his doorstep.

"The home owners are going to be upset because they thought they had a buyer and now they might not.

"Our main concern is safety but it will lead to people leaving the area and drive house prices down. Nobody will want to live here."

The police say they stop detainees being released if they think they will commit crime in the area.

They also say the winners of the bid to build the suite will make sure prisoners can make their way home.

Due to the commercial nature of the bid, they cannot release details of these arrangements.