Fury as cost of policing Julian Assange's Ecuador Embassy hideaway soars past £10MILLION

It is now believed the cost of policing the Embassy has now soared past £10million, it emerged today.

Metropolitan Police officers have been standing outside the building in Knightsbridge, west London, since Mr Assange took shelter there in June 2012.

Police are forced to patrol the outside of the Embassy in case he steps foot on British soil, in which case he would be arrested.

Scotland Yard spent £9million on policing the building to the end of October, according to figures released in a Freedom of Information request from LBC Radio.

Mr Assange has been holed up in the Embassy for a further 96 days since these figures were released - meaning that the actual total amount spent by the force today has passed the £10million mark, or roughly £10,500 a day.

Mr Assange, 43, is seeking to avoid extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over claims he assaulted two women in Stockholm - which he denies.

Nearly six months ago he said he would be leaving the Embassy soon as his health was deteriorating, but he has yet to leave and has now been there for 959 days.

A Foreign Office spokesman said today: "We remain as committed as ever to reaching a diplomatic solution to this situation. We are clear that our laws must be followed and Mr Assange should be extradited to Sweden.

"As ever, we look to Ecuador to help bring this difficult and costly situation to an end."

If arrested, Mr Assange would then be extradited to Sweden to answer the sex assault allegations.

However, Mr Assange believes he would subsequently be sent to America after he released thousands of highly-confidential US State Department documents on his Wikileaks site.

Stephen Greenhalgh, deputy mayor for policing and crime in London, described the £10million sum as an "eye-watering amount of money".

He said: "We do need a diplomatic situation, but ultimately it is the taxpayer that foots the bill.

"Frankly I think the Home Office should help us out. This is something that does need a solution, but, pending that, this is the kind of money that you can't possibly predict the Met will have to bear."

He added: "We will have to keep paying the bill. The Met can't resolve this.

"We need to get some kind of deal where Mr Assange can face the charges that he faces in Sweden without extradition to the United States."

The staggering amount of cash has also been branded as "utterly unfair" by a British pressure group.

Andy Silvester, Campaign Director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Taxpayers are bound to question if this really is good use of their money, when the cops could be out on the beat preventing crimes in local communities.

"When every department is having to find savings, it is utterly unfair for the Met to have to spend precious resources guarding Mr Assange in a plush neighbourhood."

The shock figure came as Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg today expressed his frustration over Mr Assange's refusal to leave the Embassy.

Mr Clegg was appearing on LBC Radio when a caller asked him how long the "farce" regarding Mr Assange was going to continue.

Mr Clegg replied: "Am I frustrated that it goes on and on like this? Am I frustrated that taxpayers are picking up the tab around the Ecuadorian Embassy? Yes, sure.

"Just imagine the frustration of the Swedish Government. This is a country with impeccable democratic credentials with a well-respected judicial system who say that he should go to Sweden to face very serious allegations and charges of rape, which he denies.

"Of course, the right thing for him to do is to do that and face justice and to face justice in a country where due process is well-established."

However, Mr Clegg said he was adamant that the problem would not be resolved by closing down the Ecuadorian Embassy.

He added: "The whole point about embassies is we all have embassies in countries where he don't particularly get on with them and we have embassies in countries which we don't particularly agree with.

"That is the whole point about having embassies is that you maintain a link between countries - even at moments of tension.

"Therefore you think very, very carefully - and only in very exceptional circumstances - close embassies altogether and so sever links with other countries."

Clarification 

We have been asked to highlight that although Mr Clegg and Mr Greenhalgh have referred to charges being brought against Julian Assange in Sweden, in fact no charges have been brought against him. As the article states, Mr Assange is seeking to avoid extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over claims he assaulted two women in Stockholm - which he denies. We are happy to highlight the error made by Mr Clegg and Mr Greenhalgh.