Police spent £3m on abandoned relocation plans

A decision was made to redevelop the force's existing headquarters in Guildford

Surrey Police spent nearly £3m on abandoned plans to move its headquarters.

The force originally planned to move from its current Guildford home at Mount Browne to a £20.5m site in Leatherhead, but those plans were changed following a review in 2021.

Between 2020-2021, approximately £2.948m was spent on the plans for the Leatherhead site, including design team fees and survey costs, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) said about half of the costs were directly transferrable to the Mount Browne redevelopment project.

Plans to redevelop Mount Browne were approved in November.

After the Leatherhead plan was dropped £4.6m was spent on the designs and plans for redeveloping Mount Browne.

Surrey Police is now selling part of the Leatherhead site, while repurposing the rest of the land to develop a new eastern division headquarters.

A Surrey Police spokesperson said: "Long-term, these plans will save public money. This remains a key focus of the programme and our work around it."