The Government's decision to move York's army headquarters to Edinburgh could cost the taxpayer a shocking £104 million over the next 25 years.

And Prime Minister Tony Blair was wrong when he told York MP Hugh Bayley that the decision was based "on military and operational cost-effectiveness and nothing else."

Those are the bombshell conclusions of union leaders representing hundreds of civil servants at Imphal Barracks, who stand to lose their jobs under the plan to merge the York-based 2nd Division with the Edinburgh-based Scottish Division, and site the merged HQ in the Scottish capital.

Today, Ryedale MP John Greenway said he would ask the Commons Public Accounts Committee to formally investigate the claims, made in an official submission by the unions today to the Ministry of Defence.

"In my view, this document destroys the case that was put forward by the Ministry of Defence," said the Conservative MP, who believed the Edinburgh option had been pursued to hold on to Labour votes at vital Scottish elections this spring.

York MP Hugh Bayley said he would ensure the document was seen by Armed Forces Minister Doug Henderson.

The unions claim the extra costs of travel across the massive division by helicopter and road for the new division's General Officer Commanding alone could come to £10 million over 25 years.

Visits by officers and civilians to the MoD in London and the headquarters of Army Land Command in Wiltshire, and from across the division to Edinburgh, would clock up millions more miles of travel at an estimated total cost of £18 million.

Other possible costs include massive bills for:

Maintenance for the new HQ at Edinburgh

Providing extra staff at Edinburgh

The blocking of the sale of married quarters in Edinburgh

Re-locating the HQ back to England if a victorious Scottish National Party orders it out of Scotland.

see COMMENT 'Army move is big tax blunder'

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.