SOUTHAMPTON City Council has been criticised for spending more than £8 million on a parcel warehouse in Northampton while failing to deliver services on its doorstep.

Cllr Simon Pope of the Southampton Independents accused the city council’s ruling Labour party of having its priorities all wrong.

Earlier this month city council paid £8.2m for a DPD depot near Northampton.

A spokesman for the council confirmed that the 4000sq metre property was purpose-built around four years ago and the lease has over 16 years remaining at a current rent of around £415,000 per annum.

The purchase price of £8.2 million reflects an initial yield of five per cent, say the council.

Council leader Simon Letts, pictured above, described the purchase as a “copper-bottomed investment.”

“The parcel moving and logistics sector is growing and this is a secure investment,” he said.

However, Cllr Pope, pictured right, believes the city authority should be spending the money on improving services to council taxpayers in Southampton.

“It’s rather galling for people here in Millbrook, Maybush and Redbridge who have had no new council housing for five years to learn that the council has spent £8 million in Northampton.

“The council are telling people they can’t resurface the roads because they haven’t any money – their priorities are wrong.”

Cllr Pope said only time would tell if the the DP deal turned out to be a lucrative investment.

The DPD depot serves the south Midlands and northern Home Counties.

DPD (Dynamic Parcel Deliveries) is one of the biggest parcel delivery companies in the UK. Formerly Parceline is is owned by GeoPost, a subsidiary of La Poste, France’s postal service.

Southampton City Council set up a property investment portfolio last year.

Like many other councils it believed commercial property would be a profitable investment option, especially as interest rates were at an all-time low.

Properties acquired so far include two retail warehouse properties in Southampton on Winchester Road, currently occupied by Wickes and Halfords, and a modern office building in Cambridge occupied by technology giants Nokia and Virgin.