PULLING out of Newport Passport Office could cost the taxpayer up to £3 million to get out of its lease.

That’s according to an advisor to the landlord, Bob Cotton, who says the Identity and Passport Service also spent £1.5 million on refurbishing the office in the last 18 months.

He has revealed to the Argus that the landlord, property company Tonstate, was negotiating with IPS prior to the closure and was considering reducing the cost of the lease to keep it going.

The lease is currently due to end in 2013 and is cited as one reason why the office was selected for closure.

IPS previously said that it could close the office as early as the Autumn of 2011.

Mr Cotton told the Argus that to get out of the agreement the agency would have to pay £2 million in two years rent.

The advisor claimed they also have to pay £1 million for delapidation - the cost incurred of putting the office space back to the condition it was in before it was leased.

He said any savings from shutting the office should be set against the 250 or so people losing their jobs who are unlikely to be able to find alternative work.

“It’s a fairly short term cost saving decision,” Mr Cotton said, suggesting that the door remains open for IPS and that the cost of the lease could still be reduced.

“If they talk in terms of a five-year deal a way could be found to keep those jobs in existence,” he argued, adding that the Welsh Assembly Government would also be welcomed in talks to keep the building going.

Tonstate’s chief executive Dr Edward Wojakovski has also told Newport East MP Jessica Morden and Public and Commercial Services union IPS group president Paul McGoay that he was “extremely annoyed” with IPS management proposals, after negotiations on the lease were broken off following the announcement.

According to a letter written to the Argus by the pair following a meeting with Dr Wojakovski, the chief executive regarded the £1.5 million investment a “waste of money” that made “no business sense” now that the office could close.

Newport council leader Councillor Matthew Evans said the figures added weight to the argument to keep passport services in the city.

He said: “I recognise that these are difficult times and cuts have to be found but I reiterate our belief that it would make far more sense economically to keep and even expand the service here rather than taking it away.”

Ben Rapier, PCS organiser at Newport Passport Office, urged IPS chief executive Sarah Rapson to take up the landlord’s offer to do a deal.

“It doesn't make any sense to spend an additional £3 million in payments to the landlord so that IPS can put 300 hundred people out of work,” he added.

A IPS spokesman said: “Due to operational improvements, IPS needs to reduce the number of staff and the amount of office space it uses and rent renegotiations on the site at Newport will not alter that fact.”