Cambridgeshire County Council has purchased an office block in Huntingdon to add to its portfolio of properties and free up money for frontline services.

The authority has acquired Vantage House, in Washingley Road, and the space will be used as offices for the highways department, which currently has depots spread across the county.

Vantage House was originally occupied by regional developer, Artisan (UK) Properties Ltd, which built Vantage Park and has been based in the office since December 2000.

Artisan has moved out of its base into a nearby building, on the same business park.

Richard Adam, director of Barker Storey Matthews which, in conjunction with Savills, handled the sale, said: “The local office market has improved to the point here there are relatively few larger offices available. The town has attracted increased interest from occupiers and commercial property investors since the A14 construction works got under way as the upgrade will, undoubtedly, improve accessibility throughout the area.

“The sale of Vantage House comes on the back of a sustained period of office sales and lettings within the Huntingdon market over recent months which has totalled more than 25,000 sq ft.”

Work on the 8,000 sq ft building has already started to allow for purpose-fitted offices for the department.

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire County Council said: “We’re a county wide service which currently operates out of four depots, one of which is already in Huntingdon, as well as office accommodation.

“This new accommodation for some of the service is much more cost effective for us as we’ll now own the building – which allows us to put more money into frontline maintenance.”

As a part of the move, it is likely that some back office staff from across the county will be amalgamated into the new office based in Vantage Park.

The spokesman added that it was not yet known when staff would move into the new base as the process was at an early stage.