Scotland Yard HQ on sale for 250 million pounds

LONDON: One of England's most famous buildings, the police headquarters of Scotland Yard in the heart of London, has been put up for sale with a 250-million-pound price tag.

The Metropolitan Police are moving to a smaller base from their current office block in Victoria, Central London, as part of cost-cutting measures.

The force's new headquarters will be the Curtis Green building on Victoria Embankment nearby.

The Met has been housed at the current New Scotland Yard building since 1967.

The London Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime confirmed the property will have a guide price of 250 million pounds and be marketed as "Ten Broadway".

Some of the proceeds will be used to buy new hi-tech equipment such as body-worn cameras, secure tablets and smartphones for officers.

Up to 200 police buildings are due to be sold by 2016, with 124.5 million pounds already brought in by the big sell off.

The force expects to reduce its annual running costs by 60 million pounds once the moves are completed in two years' time.

Its new headquarters will house 1,000 officers and staff compared to the 2,500 currently working at New Scotland Yard, with the remaining 1,500 relocated at other Met buildings in London.

Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Stephen Greenhalgh said, "By selling the old Met HQ and shrinking the estate, we can afford to fund the massive programme we have under way to equip frontline officers with cutting edge technology".

The Met's head office, has moved several times before - it shifted from from Whitehall Place to Great Scotland Yard in 1875 and to the Norman Shaw building in 1890, before establishing its base in the current building in the 1960s.