Police chiefs have been landed with a £250,000 bill - the equivalent to the cost of ten police officers for a year - because planners ordered them to build part of the new Bradford HQ in stone.

The decision has also delayed the start of work on the £10 million Bradford South police station in Nelson Street for six months.

Contractors should have moved on site this month but will now be unable to start until April and the new headquarters - which will replace the existing 1970s Tyrls police station - will not be ready until September 2005 instead of March that year as anticipated.

Today, West Yorkshire Police Authority members, Councillors Clive Richardson (Con, Thornton) and John Ruding (Lab, Tong), hit out at the decision by Bradford Council's Regulatory and Appeals Committee.

And they pointed out that surrounding buildings, including the £35 million offices of banking giant Abbey National, were constructed in brick.

Coun Richardson said: "We are spending a sum on stone for this building which is the cost of ten extra police officers.

"This new police station is urgently needed and this delay is a disappointment and a nuisance. The building next door is brick, the Interchange is brick and it is not a predominantly stone area."

He said no decision had been taken about where the extra money would come from but the Government was changing the way police authorities funded building projects from March by making it possible for them to borrow from outside sources.

"That is possibly what will happen, unless there is any slippage," said Coun Richardson.

"But however it is dealt with it means the public are paying through taxes and many feel it could have been better spent."

Coun Ruding said: "The public don't want the police authority to spend their money on stone - they want it spent on police officers.

"This is a very prestigious and important building to the police. It has already suffered considerable delays and it is very unfair that they have insisted on this."

Chris Turton, chairman of West Yorkshire Police Federation, said: "Police work in Bradford has outgrown the existing building and it is far from perfect. But this is Council Tax payers' money and I am concerned about the cost. I entirely agree with the members."

Today, Councillor Andrew Smith (Con, Queensbury), who was chairman of the regulatory and appeals committee when it made the decision, insisted that it was right.

He said the new building would encourage other developers to build in stone and improve the area.

"It didn't look good to us. Aesthetically it will improve the area. Hopefully other developers will come along with buildings which will harmonise with it."

Councillor Ann Ozolins (Lib Dem, Idle), who is still a member of the committee, said: "The design looked like the buildings we are knocking down now and we didn't want it. We asked if the police thought Bradford wasn't worth a good building."