Government billed more than £550,000 for electricity in six months

Residents said the Unity Square building was "lit up like a Christmas tree"

The government has been billed more than half a million pounds in six months for electricity at a Nottingham office criticised for being "lit up like a Christmas tree".

MP Lilian Greenwood released figures showing the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Unity Square building's bills.

The government body had been criticised for its lights being on outside business hours.

HMRC previously said it was still "fine tuning" the light control system.

Ms Greenwood, Labour MP for Nottingham South, submitted questions to the Treasury, enquiring about the cost of keeping the building lit up after residents raised concerns.

One tweeted that the building, construction of which was completed in 2021, was lit up "every night" she was in the area.

"I've just walked past Unity Square in #Nottingham and all the lights are on, but no-one appears to be working in the building," she tweeted.

"Is there a reason why it's lit up like a Christmas tree?"

A response from Financial Secretary to the Treasury Victoria Atkins - tweeted by Ms Greenwood - said the building's electricity bill from April to the end of September 2022 came to £557,805.20.

Unity Square in Nottingham is one of a number of HMRC regional centres

Ms Greenwood told BBC Radio Nottingham the figure sounded "quite high", but added that it might be fairly normal for a building of that size.

"Someone on Twitter who is an architect, his ballpark guess was £85,000 a month which is roughly what it was in April, June and September," she said.

"The highest figure was for August when it was £113,345.46, so I'm guessing maybe the cost of cooling the building, having the air conditioning on, makes it more expensive."

A HMRC spokesperson confirmed the figures, adding: "We have had lighting specialists on site to reduce the length of time the lights stay on after last detected movement.

"We have been monitoring this carefully, and the position is significantly improved, with some further minor works under way."