A retired police officer who arrested the first criminal to be locked up at Pudsey Police Station more than 30 years ago was at the opening of the station’s new state-of-the-art custody complex.

Peter Krushniak, who joined West Yorkshire Police in 1968, met Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison yesterday as he told how the station at Dawsons Corner had changed since it opened in 1978.

The station has undergone a £2.5 million redevelopment over the past 17 months, to transform it into one of the main policing hubs serving the North West Leeds Division.

The most significant part of the project has been the development of a purpose-built 22 cell custody suite.

Mr Krushniak, who now works as a police staff crime evaluator at North West Leeds, recalls working out at the new Pudsey ‘nick’ when it opened.

As a traffic officer driving the area’s “incident car” he reported for duty on Thursday, March 9, 1978, the last day of the then Wortley Police Station, in Upper Wortley Road, Armley, where he and his colleagues were preparing to move to the new station at Dawsons Corner.

By mid-morning he had been called to Stanningley Town Street to a report of a man who had been disturbed stealing from the back of a delivery wagon.

On arrival he spotted the offender carrying a box and arrested him “without much of a struggle”.

He then arrived at the new station and waited for the station sergeant before he could book in what would be the first prisoner to be held there.

Mr Krushniak said: “There were no computers then or even a typewriter. The sergeant booked the prisoner in by handwriting a large blue detention sheet. I don’t remember much about the prisoner other than he was a regular ‘guest’ of the local constabulary. I don’t think he was too excited about being the first person booked into the new station.”

Mr Krushniak was given a tour of the new cell facilities at Pudsey prior to its opening this week.

Sir Norman said: “The redevelopment of Pudsey police station to provide the very latest modern custody facilities is part of a wider programme of work across the Force to make sure we have custody provision of the highest standard in the right locations to serve our operational policing needs well into the future.”