The roof above the washrooms at the increasingly dilapidated police station finally has collapsed and officers and civilian staff fear for their safety as they work in the 100-year old building.
The local communist party has taken the officers’ plight to Parliament as fears increase that the building is unsafe and could collapse.
The property has never been refurbished and the walls and ceilings are full of cracks, the plaster is hanging off the walls in some rooms and when it rains the roof leaks and water runs down the inside walls.
A Communist Party delegation led by MP Paulo Sá visited the police station last week and found the property in as bad a state as had been described to him.
The Government has said that there is money in the 2015 State Budget to address the situation, but in the meantime the building is in danger of collapse.
Many town and city centre police stations have been closed and sold off, with new purpose-built facilities being erected, conveniently at the edge of town.
The police station in Vila Real de Santo António has remained where it stood 100 years ago and the government seems happy that its budgetary programme takes precedence over the safety of its public servants.
