COUNTY chiefs reckon a potential £250m of taxpayers’ money could be saved in Hampshire over 25 years if councils shared offices.

The county council has been involved in a Government project investigating possible savings if local authorities had joint instead of separate premises in the same towns.

A pioneer of this approach is the £2m Ringwood Gateway project which opened last year.

This public sector “hub” is a base for the county council, New Forest District Council and Ringwood Town Council.

Hampshire Constabulary, the NHS, Hampshire Fire and Rescue sand Government departments could also share local authority buildings, say civic chiefs.

Council leader Ken Thornber said: “Having ‘one public estate’ in Hampshire would make sense in terms of benefits to the public purse and residents with public services for their area coming under one roof and so making access easier.”

Savings would come from splitting bills for running costs.

At the last Cabinet meeting, chief executive Andrew Smith said it cost the council £120m per year to run its buildings – before any services are provided.

Mr Smith said: “That is just to open the doors, heat the buildings and make alternations to keep them safe.”

The county owns 45 per cent of the 4m square metres of public sector floor area in Hampshire.

The Cabinet approved a plan that would cut the number of county council offices from 53 to just eight area office hubs and seven major offices in Winchester.

The government project, called Capital and Assets Pathfinder, was kick-started by Secretary of State Eric Pickles. Mr Smith was asked by ministers to champion the scheme for local government.