ABANDONED plans for a new North Yorkshire Police headquarters cost the force more than £145,000.

In a recent audit of the accounts of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner's, it was revealed that the organisation spent more than £125,000 on designs for the proposed new headquarters in South Kilvington.

Design work on the proposed new building began in September 2013, and was intended to replace the current Newby Wiske building and the existing Northallerton police station, also including a 10 cell custody suite.

The force had put down a deposit on the land, but announced in July last year it was scrapping the plans, which had come under criticism from local residents who said the building, between the A61 and A19, would ruin their way of life and risked dominating the village and overwhelming its 1950s sewage system.

Figures seen by The Press this week showed the abandoned plans in 2014/2015 had cost the authority £145,198, with £126,587 spent on design costs, £8,587 on legal costs and £5,000 on a landscape architect.

The authority had also paid £2,750 in agent fees, £1,894 in communication costs regarding the proposal, and £380 on ecology surveys.

In a statement following the scrapping of the South Kilvington site, Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan said the funds had been spent "exploring the viability of a northern base at South Kilvington". It is unclear whether any funds were spent in the previous financial year on the project.

Last week (AUGUST 24), the OPCC announced it had bought Alverton Hall, the former Rural Payments Agency in Northallerton, six miles from Newby Wiske Hall, for £4.7m including stamp duty, with the move expected to cost less than £7m in total.

The Alverton Hall scheme is expected to be up to £12 million cheaper than the South Kilvington plans, and will save £4 million in running costs over 30 years compared to the current HQ.

Mrs Mulligan said the purchase of Alverton Hall was "another milestone in the transition in becoming a more innovative, agile and responsive police force", and would mean more money could be spent on frontline policing instead of the £1m annual upkeep of Newby Wiske Hall.