PLANS to abandon the refurbishment of Stratford District Council's headquarters in favour of a brand new building could lead to sweeping cuts to council services, warned a councillor this week.

Peter Moorse, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said the cost of building the new HQ would be £10 million and the on-going costs if it was leased could only be paid for by sweeping budget cuts

However, coun Chris Saint said the plan would be cheaper than the refurbishment, which was agreed by the Lib/Dems in the last administration, and he accused coun Moorse of making "unforgivable" exaggerations.

The current HQ, Elizabeth House on Church Street, was condemned some time ago because of its poor working conditions, lack of disabled access and its inefficiency.

It was decided, after a £200,000 consultation commissioned by the then Lib/Dem-run council, that a £8.5million refurbishment should be carried out, as a move would be too expensive. Although some work on refurbishing the old building has started, coun Saint said it was discovered that a new building would be cheaper not just to construct but also more efficient to run and it was agreed last week - by a majority of just one vote - to continue with the new plans.

Coun Saint could not reveal what the new cost would be as: "negotiations are still continuing and because of commercial sensitivity," but said it would "be considerably less than the refurbishment."

Coun Saint added that the move would be more efficient as the new office will be 40,000 sq ft, half the size of Elizabeth House, cutting the waste of space and energy costs. "When coun Moorse asks how we will pay for this, I wonder how he thought the Lib/Dems would pay for the refurbishment, plus the movement of staff out of the building into temporary accommodation and back again?" said coun Saint.

"The figure of £10 million is wide of the mark and as coun Moorse has access to the real figures he should not be making these irresponsible claims. It is unforgivable."

However, coun Moorse said the old plans for refurbishment which would have made Elizabeth House usable "forever and a day" had been rejected for a more costly option, which would mean "significant spending cuts".

"We will see significant cuts to the capital budget and many schemes look set to be axed, like buying the onion fields to extend the rec and the decriminalisation of parking. I am concerned we will see public services cut right back to make way for this new office we thought we could do without."