US Secret Service wants $8m to build replica White House

White House, home to President Obama. Image by Diego Cambiaso / CC BY-SA 2.0

The US Secret Service wants $8 million (£5.4 million) to build a replica White House to help train agents after an embarrassing security breach last year.

Secret Service director Joseph Clancy said the agency needs the training facility in Beltsville, Maryland, about 20 miles from the real executive mansion, to provide agents and officers with a more realistic training experience. Mr Clancy made his pitch to a House Appropriations sub-committee.

He said training is now done in a car park but it does not have the bushes and fountains that the White House grounds do. In September a man armed with a knife was able to climb over a White House fence, dart through thick bushes and run deep into the mansion before being subdued.

(Press Association)