There has been a magistrates office in Bow Street since 1740

Grade-II listed Bow Street Magistrates' Court is being sold to help finance a new 10-courtroom building on the Marylebone Magistrates' Court site.

It is thought it could become flats, a hotel and restaurant or museums.

An adjoining police station is also being put up for sale after plans to turn it into a museum were abandoned.

While the buildings are owned by different bodies, they are being handled as a single sale.

The court could become a hotel, or be turned into flats

Although newspaper reports have put the price of the buildings at �12m, the Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority (GLMCA) says it is seeking "best value".

It will decide whether to recommend proceeding with any offers at a meeting on 8 October.

The first Bow Street magistrate was Colonel Thomas de Veil, who established his office on the street in 1740. The current court was built in the 1870s and 1880s.

As it is listed, the GLMCA says it cannot make the changes necessary to bring court facilities up to 21st Century standards.

'Considerable interest'

It wants to reduce the costs of running three courts in Westminster by creating a new one on the Marylebone site.

A spokesman told BBC News Online: "We fully recognise the sensitivity historically and cultural issues surrounding the site.

"But we have to recognise that, to provide better services to the wider community and to the justice system, changes to our properties must be considered and implemented."

The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) says it is disappointed it had to abandon plans for a police museum after legal advice that it was "beyond its statutory powers".

Estate agents Colliers CRE says there has been "considerable interest" in the buildings since they went on the market three weeks ago.