London: Protecting former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal while he studies in Britain could cost UK taxpayers as much as one million pounds a year.

Police chiefs fear the cost of providing a 24-hour armed guard for Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will be a drain on already overstretched Scotland Yard resources, The Daily Express reported.

The 19-year-old Oxford undergraduate became Britain's most high-profile terrorist target since author Salman Rushdie after being named chief of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) following his mother's assassination last month.

"His protection will cost 1 million pounds a year minimum. Talk of it being in line with Prince William s and other royals is way off the mark - the cost will be stratospheric by comparison. The kind of protection he will be afforded is on a par with the likes of Rushdie and KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky," a police source told the paper.

Although Scotland Yard has refused to comment on Bilawal's protection, it is understood a risk assessment has been carried out by a detective inspector.

"It is understood that Mr Zardari qualifies for the top level of protection; a close protection team of 12 armed officers in two vehicles working eight-hour shifts," the newspaper said.

The yearly wage bill alone is around 500,000 pounds. Tory MP David Davies, a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said the wealthy Bhutto family should help foot the bill for Bilawal's protection, said the report.

Source : PTI