The secret Surrey County Council report into proposals for Nonsuch Mansion has only just been released under the Freedom of Information Act.

It has taken 14 months for Surrey to react to the request even though a leaked copy has been widely publicised by the Stoneleigh and Auriol Residents Association (SARA).

The report for which the consultants charged £26,216, is expected to have finally cost the tax payer more than £100,000 in officer time and expenses, a cost which Surrey will not confirm.

The report put forward some suggestions including turning it into luxury flats which would have meant that Nonsuch Mansion would have been lost to public use Surrey County Council recently agreed to sign a long lease so Sutton and Epsom councils can run the park and mansion for the public.

Bill Slaughter, chairman of SARA said: "Although we were already in possession of a leaked copy of the options review, SARA's victory in forcing the Conservative-controlled County Council to end its Mansion House secrecy and place the options review in the public domain means that any member of the public can now apply to receive a copy of the hitherto secret report, using the Freedom of Information Act."