'It's so sad' Woking counts the cost of Tory gambles as facilities face axe

The council's ambitious Woking's plan was for tall buildings to be seen, on a clear day, from the viewing levels of the Shard in central London.

- Richard Partington

Residents, however, view the unfinished towers with much less pride - as a symbol of the Surrey town's financial woes.

Woking borough council this week announced a sweeping package of cuts to local services, after the local authority in effect declared itself bankrupt this summer, revealing a £1.2bn deficit racked up from a risky investment spree overseen by its former Conservative administration. The towers were at the centre of the problem, with cost overruns adding to vast debts.

"I don't know where to start. It's all gone sideways," says Chigz Hirani, the owner of the Hair Lab hairdressers, a stone's throw from the towers. "Where has the money gone? It started off as being a couple of hundred million, but a billion pounds? It's got to have gone somewhere."

Like many in the town, Hirani is angry and wants answers. "Something dodgy has gone on," he says. "They've got no money left but they'll have to find it from somewhere. It'll come from us, in taxes."