Plans for Hertfordshire County Council to close its offices between Christmas and New Year in Stevenage, along with other sites around the county, could save up to £10,000 a year.

Currently the Robertson House buildings in Stevenage are closed for a couple of days over the festive period.

But council bosses say the Covid pandemic has shown working from home is possible.

They have estimated closing their Stevenage site and others between December 21 and January 3 would save around £10,000 – including heating, ventilation and heating and utility costs.

The proposal is contained in budget documents published in advance of the county council's cabinet meeting this week.

"Within this period foot fall as well as operations throughout these sites decreases," says the report.

"The current Covid era has established that it is actually possible to work considerably from home, which directly supports the corporate directive of how the council business will be managed.

"The study was based on the cost of running HVAC, boiler, utilities and other."

Meanwhile the document also proposes a review of current security patrols of vacant council-owned properties.

It suggests that as part of that review existing patrols – including guards and dogs – could be replaced by CCTV or remote monitoring arrangements, at a saving of around £50,000 a year.

Apart from Stevenage, others offices in Hertford and Hemel Hempstead being considered.