NEARLY £1 million has already been spent on Selby’s landmark new hospital and council offices before a brick has been laid, The Press can reveal.

Planning fees, consultants’ charges and archaeological costs have all contributed to the bill for the new Selby Community Project, which will create a combined hospital and civic centre in Doncaster Road.

Council leaders today said the expenditure was all in line with budgets and said they were confident of avoiding the calamities that plagued City of York Council’s headquarters project last year.

Figures obtained by The Press show £948,487 has been spent so far, including:

• £574,743 on project management firm Turner and Townsend

• £10,259 to Spawforth planning consultancy

• £20,500 on travel plans

• Tens of thousands on ground surveys and archaeology.

Staff salaries are also included in the total, which was revealed after The Press used the little-known Audit Commission Act to get a full breakdown of expenditure so far.

The documents also reveal the smaller expenditures – including £105 on biscuits and printer cartridges for staff.

Mark Crane, leader of Selby District Council, today said work was progressing well.

“It is on budget at the present time,” he said.

“We were always prepared for some expenditure in the early days and there will be a lot more to come. This is a really good news story for Selby. It will give us a new hospital at a time when others fear they may well lose theirs.”

Coun Crane said he had seen what happened in York, where council leaders had to abandon their original Hungate plans after spending nearly £5 million, adding: “We have gone into this with eyes wide open, but we believe we have an excellent team round us.”

A spokesman for the council and NHS North Yorkshire and York said: “We’re on track with the budgets we have set so far, and there is no indication at this stage that this will change. There have been no set-backs in the process.”