POLICE are to take legal action against a firm of surveyors after a delay in the building of their new multi-million pound police station based in Blackburn has cost the force tens of thousands of pounds.

The constabulary said it was forced to terminate a contract with quantity surveyors Edmond Shipway after accusing them of giving the wrong advice about the cost of the scheme for the £8million station at Whitebirk, Blackburn.

Police chiefs had employed the surveying firm to estimate the final cost of the scheme. But when they put the work out to tender, the bids received were a lot higher than expected.

The scheme had to be redesigned and put out to tender again and five new tenders have now been received which meet the budget.

The termination of the contract with Edmond Shipway cost the force an estimated £185,000 as bosses had to hire new surveyors.

Police said today plans for the station are now running three months behind schedule. It was hoped the centre at Whitebirk would be finished by February 2002 but the scheme is unlikely to be complete before next summer. Police bosses took legal advice from a firm of solicitors in Manchester and were advised they may be able to recover some or all of their money by bringing an action against Edmond Shipway for professional negligence.

David Brindle, Lancashire Constabulary's director of corporate services, said: "We do think we have a case and following legal advice we feel this is the most appropriate course to take."

The £8million scheme for the new HQ includes the new station at Whitebirk and a smaller police station in Blackburn town centre at a site to be decided.

The new building will be headquarters for the Eastern Division which covers Blackburn Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley.

It will include a custody suite with 42 cells and will also house CID, the division's communications centre, operational policing and intelligence-gathering units.

The current police station in the listed Victorian building on Northgate will be sold off.

No one at Edmond Shipway, a national company with headquarters in Birmingham, was available for comment.