A HOME OFFICE department is close to moving into the giant CS1000 building on Newport's Celtic Springs Business Park, it was revealed today.

HM Prison Service would take the entire 60,000 sq ft of the vacant building to create a procurement (purchasing) centre.

It would bring around 200 jobs, many of which would be new.

Newport is leading a race for the jobs over rival sites in Bolton and Newcastle.

An official announcement is scheduled for March, but negotiators believe the actual decision could be made as early as this week.

The letting agents for CS1000 are Knight Frank, in Cardiff, and Hutchings & Thomas, in Newport.

Robert Carew-Chaston, of Hutchings & Thomas, said: "Several parties are interested in CS1000 and others are interested in new developments at Celtic Springs, so we're in a very, very comfortable position.

"It's a very exciting time for the business park."

Mr Carew-Chaston explained that part of CS1000's appeal was that there was only one other building over 40,000 sq ft available in Wales at the moment: Talbot Gateway, in Port Talbot.

"Companies or government departments with deadlines for new facilities to become active cannot afford to consider new builds, so CS1000 is a very attractive option. It's also a fine building in a perfect location."

Newport's bid for the relocation has been supported by the council, urban regeneration company Newport Unlimited, the Welsh Development Agency and the Assembly executive.

HM Prison Service's choices of location have been influenced by the Lyons report, which recommended that civil service operations be shifted away from London and the South East.

The letting agents are hoping it's going to be third time lucky in their attempts to find a tenant for CS1000's owner, AWG.

In January 2003, shortly after the building was completed, it was almost let to the Caudwell Group as a call centre for its phones4U brand.

But at the eleventh hour the client's interest in the property waned.

In December 2003, hopes of letting the building were again dashed when the Inland Revenue opted for a rival site in Newcastle for a tax credits call centre employing 500 people.