SECURITY is being stepped up at the former County Hall buildings in St Helen’s Street in a bid to keep out vandals and thieves.

The work started earlier this month, and officials at the borough council – which is responsible for monitoring the state of historic buildings in the town – are hoping it should be secure by Christmas.

Councillor with responsibility for planning and economic development, Carole Jones, told this week’s meeting of the borough that the work should be completed by the end of next week at the latest.

She said the owners of the building would be paying for the work – which could cost up to �50,000 – but if there was any problem the council would use its own money and would then take legal moves to recover it. During questions about the future of the building, Ms Jones took a sideswipe at the former Conservative/LibDem administration at the borough.

She said: “The building was sold to the current owners in 2005 when they were in power, but it is only now that anything is being done about it. Why didn’t they take action?”

The state of the building was graphically highlighted earlier this year when the Star was sent shocking pictures of serious damage to the inside of the building which was the headquarters of Suffolk County Council until it moved into Endeavour House in 2004.