FORMER police houses in Boscombe have been renovated as part of the ongoing regeneration project.

The five homes in Gladstone Road East were bought by Bournemouth Borough Council last year after they were deemed surplus to requirements by the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner. Some had been empty since 2006.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Friday to mark the formal handing over to new tenants.

Bournemouth’s cabinet member for housing, councillor Robert Lawton, said: “These five houses are a welcome boost to the housing stock for Boscombe and provide high-quality, much-needed, family-sized homes.”

Substantial work on the three-bed homes included damp proofing, rewiring, re-plumbing, re-plastering, new insulation and new kitchen and bathrooms.

All of the gardens were cleared and tidied up in readiness for the new tenants, who are all families from Bournemouth allocated from the housing waiting list.

Previously some of the families had been living in one-bedroom flats.

The cost of the purchase and refurbishment, which included money from the Homes and Communities Agency, was £885,000, and their addition to the council’s housing allocation.

The project was inspired by a reported shortage of good quality family-sized homes in the area.

Ward councillor and cabinet member for regeneration, Jane Kelly, also welcomed the completion of the scheme.

She said: “It is really great to see these houses occupied once more and we wish the new tenants all the best in their new homes.”

Work has also started on the conversion of the latest ‘house of multiple occupation’ purchased by the council.

The authority said the property at 30 Churchill Gardens would need extensive work before it could be renovated into flats for local families.