A CASH-STRAPPED council has come in for fresh criticism after spending almost £3,000 on keeping the heating on in a former care complex which closed a year ago.

Officials at Northumberland County Council have been accused of wasting scarce resources by continuing to heat the empty Greenholme building in Haltwhistle, which was shut down to save money and make budget savings.

Yesterday the authority admitted it has spent £2,700 on heating the disused building since March last year, although the gas supply has now been switched off. The Greenholme residential home was closed in October 2009 after its last residents moved out, and the building’s day centre for elderly people was shut 12 months ago.

Local self-employed contractor, Kevin Little, discovered recently that the county council paid a British Gas bill of £1,576 in December for the cost of continuing to heat the empty building.

Yesterday he said he had been told the council only switched off the heating last month, after he queried the gas bill.

He said: “They have been heating an empty building for between 12 and 15 months. It is like the Keystone Cops and something you couldn’t make up.

“They closed Greenholme to save money and now we find out they are still heating it. I would love to know where else in Northumberland this is happening. Someone must sign off these bills.”

Haltwhistle town councillor Margaret Forrest said she has asked the county for full details of all of the utility bills incurred at Greenholme since it closed. She said: “I am still waiting for that information, but if it is true that they have been leaving the heating on in an empty building then heads should roll. I think it is ridiculous and the heating, water and everything else should have been turned off when it closed.”

Jane Bowie, assistant director of safeguarding and strategic commissioning, said: “While no services are now provided at Greenholme, the council is still responsible for safely maintaining the building. This involves operating a low level of heating, to prevent serious deterioration in its fabric, and some other expenses including costs associated with monitoring building security.

“For the period from April 2010, after the closure of the day care service, total payments have been £2,702, based on operation of the heating system at a minimum level. In line with our usual practice, we have been revising our approach to managing the premises as circumstances change and as plans for future services in Haltwhistle have become firmer.

“We are not currently heating the building, it has been turned of in mid-December. The suitable disposal of the Greenholme site is under consideration in the context of the development of a new joint health and social care provision.”