POLICE FORCE WASTES £11M BUYING NEW HQ WHICH HAS SAT EMPTY FOR 5 YEARS
ABOVE: Hampshire Constabulary spent £9.6m taxpayers’ money on Alpha Park (not pictured) in 2008
It is believed the cost of running police buildings in Hampshire will be cut by more than 50% as a result.
A POLICE force wasted £11million buying and maintaining a new HQ that has sat empty for five years and will never be used.
Hampshire Constabulary spent £9.6m taxpayers’ money on Alpha Park in Chandler’s Ford, Hants, in 2008.
That was £3m more than its original valuation.
The force has since spent a further £1.8m on security, despite no police staff ever working there.
John Apter, chairman of Hampshire Police Federation, demanded that questions must be asked about the decision to purchase the “white elephant”.
He said it was “an embarrassment” that had been played out “like a bad soap opera”.
The county’s police and crime commissioner Simon Hayes ordered a review of the force’s building stock shortly after taking up his post six months ago.
It is believed the cost of running police buildings in Hampshire will be cut by more than 50% as a result.
Commissioner Hayes said: “We now have certainty on the big decisions that will allow us to get rid of unnecessary
buildings.”
That was £3m more than its original valuation.
The force has since spent a further £1.8m on security, despite no police staff ever working there.
John Apter, chairman of Hampshire Police Federation, demanded that questions must be asked about the decision to purchase the “white elephant”.
He said it was “an embarrassment” that had been played out “like a bad soap opera”.
The county’s police and crime commissioner Simon Hayes ordered a review of the force’s building stock shortly after taking up his post six months ago.
It is believed the cost of running police buildings in Hampshire will be cut by more than 50% as a result.
Commissioner Hayes said: “We now have certainty on the big decisions that will allow us to get rid of unnecessary
buildings.”
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