A REAL estate company will make millions charging the taxpayer rent for a building that has never been used.

The privately-owned ''white elephant'' at Blackbrook Park Avenue, originally intended as a regional fire control centre, will cost the Government around £2 million a year until August 2027.

It has already haemorrhaged around £20 million of public money, with the final bill potentially double that.

The facility, built in 2006 for £8.9 million, was one of nine Labour-inspired regional 999 call centres nationwide scrapped as unworkable by the Coalition in 2010.

It was recently bought for £14 million by Aprirose, which can expect a lucrative guaranteed income, with the Government contracted to pay £137,000 monthly in rent and costs for security and equipment maintenance until 2027.

Chief executive Manish Gudka said: "The long-income Government let office building represents a fantastic and highly secure investment."

But not everyone welcomes the waste of public funds.

Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow has received "limited briefing" about the "commercially sensitive" scheme from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

She said: "I'm disappointed that practically this means little has changed, other than the rent will be paid to a different landlord.

"Ministers in the department are well aware of my discontent with the current situation and having learned of this news I'll again approach Ministers to see if any progress can be made.

"Much of the problem lies in the fact that we entered into these complex arrangements under the last Labour Government and they tied us in with contracts and agreements that are extremely difficult to get out of.

"I know from my many meetings with officials and Ministers in MHCLG that they're doing everything they can to try and get tenants into the building, or even part of the building, to help alleviate the burden on the taxpayer.

"Like myself, the residents of Taunton Deane want to see this situation resolved as quickly as possible, and, as I've always done, I'll continue to make this clear to the Government."

TaxPayers' Alliance chief executive John O'Connell said: "A bungled contract and half-baked government scheme have left taxpayers on the hook for millions of pounds.

"It's completely unacceptable that so much cash is being wasted because the public sector is so bad at making deals while also being obsessed with commissioning 'ribbon-cutting' projects.

"These white elephant projects, whether regional fire centres, HS2 or Hinkley Point C, should receive much more scrutiny and even scepticism because the state has such a poor track record of delivering for the taxpayers who have to fund them."

The Government could offer a sweetener, rent-free period and rent subsidy to any company moving in.

A MHCLG spokesman said: "Taunton regional fire control centre is currently vacant and is being actively marketed to identify and secure a new tenant."