NORTH Yorkshire Police have agreed a deal to buy a site for a new force headquarters near Thirsk.

The force is putting a deposit down on a 8.4 acre site at South Kilvington, about two miles north of Thirsk on the A19, to replace its current home at Newby Wiske.

The plan is to create a new central HQ and ten-cell custody suite. The deposit will secure the site for 12 months while the force submits a planning application.

A new modern HQ will save about £455,000 per year, police and crime commissioner Julia Mulligan said. A public consultation is planned for spring 2014.