Germany: Blueprints for new BND spy agency HQ 'missing' Published duration 11 July 2011

image caption The new building, set for completion in 2014, has hi-tech security features and a huge price tag

Germany is investigating reports that the blueprints for the future headquarters of its BND intelligence agency have gone missing.

If the report in Focus magazine is confirmed, it could pose a serious security risk - and would be a huge embarrassment for the spy agency.

The new 1.6bn euro (£1.4bn; $2.3bn) agency headquarters are currently under construction in Berlin.

The government said a commission was looking into the "serious issue".

In its German-language report, Focus magazine quotes an unnamed intelligence official as saying the highly detailed plans had disappeared.

They purportedly show extremely sensitive aspects of the building's construction, such as the alarm system, anti-terror installations, emergency exits, cable routes and sewers.

"It has not yet been possible to verify the authenticity of the reports, but an investigation was launched into the matter on Friday," government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference.

The BND or Bundesnachrichtendienst is currently headquartered in Pullach, on the outskirts of Munich, but the decision was taken following reunification to move it to Berlin.

Building in a former East German district of the capital began in 2006 and is scheduled for completion in 2014.

It is set to be one of the most expensive and hi-tech government structures in Germany.