Coventry City’s home games could cost Northampton taxpayers up to £350,000, the Telegraph can reveal.Northamptonshire’s Police and Crime Commisioner Adam Simmonds said the Sky Blues ‘home’ fixtures at the Sixfields Stadium will cost £70,000 a season to police.
Mr Simmonds said: “Firstly, it’s happening. That’s our expectation and the police force will deal with every eventuality.
“The costs are based on national guidelines for policing football games inside the stadium but some costs outside the ground will depend on things like how many people attend games, how they travel and where they go when they leave.
“My biggest criticism in all this is that the first notification we had about this was when the Football League announced it.
“It makes you wonder how much forethought they have actually given to relocating the games.
“This has never been about stopping people coming to Northampton, we want people to come and for Northampton to be prosperous.
“But this is an added burden and we have to worry about an extra £100,000 from the get go.”
If Coventry City take up the additional two-year option on their three-year groundsharing arrangement with Northampton Town, taxpayers will be left with a £350,000 total bill.
The deal will also see the Sky Blues fork out £30,000 to the police for every season they play away from Coventry - taking the total estimated policing costs for five years to £500,000.
Mr Simmonds also confirmed that there was currently no way of Northamptonshire Police passing on the cost of policing games to their West Midlands colleagues.
He also raised concerns around transport in the town, with as yet unknown numbers of supporters travelling to the town on matchdays. “At the Ricoh Arena people almost take for granted that if they park at the stadium they will get out within an hour,” he said.
“When Northampton Saints have a rugby match we divert them to private car parks and when the game is finished they want to get away. “So if there is a clash we will need to have a look at how people are getting here, I think we need to manage people’s expectations.”
Mr Simmonds also indicated they would be working to identify any unwanted supporters, such as those serving football banning orders.
However, there are no plans at this stage to draft in officers from West Midlands Police on matchdays.