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Cost of policing Big Brother to top £500k

The bill for policing Big Brother is set to top £500,000, the Sunday Mirror can reveal.

And the current ninth series could be the most expensive ever since filming began at Elstree, Herts, in 2002 due to a bomb threat and increasingly controversial content.

Figures obtained by The Sunday Mirror under the Freedom of Information Act show that BB9 has already cost £80,000. That could double before the show ends in September.

A team of officers patrols around the studio every Friday night during the live eviction.
Police also monitor the show for any evidence of racism, bullying or violence, which have escalated over the years.

A specialist search team also had to attend the BB studios earlier this month after a bomb scare. An anonymous caller claiming to be from the Continuity IRA said a device had been planted at the studio. The housemates were evacuated, but nothing was found.

Officers are also still investigating Alexandra De-Gale's "gangster" threats. Hertfordshire Police have been called in to investigate clashes and alleged racism in the house on several occasions in the last six years.

In July last year, officers looked into alleged racism when Emily Parr called gobby Charley Uchea a "n****r" and was evicted from the house. No charges were brought. That series, BB8, cost a total of £114,923 to police. In January 2007, BB star Jade Goody bullied Bollywood beauty Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother, which cost £14,500 to look into. Again, no charges were brought.

In August 2005 in BB6, a series of vicious rows pushed security costs up to £79,813.

The most notorious incident was BB5's "fight night" in July 2004 when booze-fuelled Emma Greenwood and Michelle Bass were segregated into a bedsit. The investigation that followed took up the bulk of the series' £43,548 bill.

In 2003's BB4, one of the most boring ever, the cost was £33,468 and in 2002 - series three won by Kate Lawler - it was just £12,655.

Last night a spokesman for Hertfordshire Police said all police costs were billed to programme makers Endemol. He said: "The decision to bill the programme makers was taken in 2002. The cost should not be met by the taxpayer. At no time is policing in Hertfordshire compromised by officers having to deal with events in the show."

Source: Mirror