Police officers guarding Home Secretary Jack Straw at his Oxfordshire home now have an idyllic country cottage to work from.

The Home Office has paid about £250,000 to buy the neighbouring property to Mr Straw's home, The Rosary, at Minster Lovell.

The cottage, South View, now houses Mr Straw's personal protection team of six police officers, two of whom are on duty at any one time. The house came on the market a few months ago and the Home Office decided to buy. Police said today it saved them money and made the security operation easier.

Thames Valley Police spokesman Richard Goodfellow said: "It is actually a sound investment. The property is already worth more on the market and taxpayers' money will eventually be recouped."

Round-the-clock protection for Mr Straw, 53, and his wife Alice, 48, has been in place since the Labour Government came to power in 1997. Police provide security when they are at home in the village.

Previously, the police control room was in an armoured steel shed in the garden of The Rosary. It housed monitoring and other equipment.

But now the shed has been moved next door to South View, saving money and time in operation costs, said Mr Goodfellow.

"We can't go into details about the security arrangements, but it does make the operation easier," he added.

One of the officers protecting the Home Secretary is 37-year-old Pc Alan Fairbairn, who last month was awarded a commendation from Thames Valley Chief Constable Charles Pollard. He tried to rescue a man who had fallen from a hotel balcony while on holiday in Majorca.

Story date: Monday 14 February

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