WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to escape justice over sexual assault charges after hiding for so long in the Ecuadorian embassy in London

More than £30 million of taxpayers’ money could be ‘squandered’ as the deadlock over the fate of Julian Assange fate shows no sign of being broken.

The Wikileaks founder may remain holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for another five years despite the expiration of some of the charges against him.

His supporters are celebrating after the Swedish authorities admitted they will be unable to pursue allegations of sexual assault, as the deadline to charge him expires within days.

But the 43-year-old Australian fugitive still faces a further rape investigation which remains valid until 2020.

He is understood to be so fearful of being extradited to the U.S. to face trial for leaking secrets that he is considering sitting the years out.

As a result the Metropolitan Police will be forced to continue guarding the landmark property in London’s Knightsbridge at a cost of £10,000 a day.

Three elite uniformed officers monitor the Embassy around the clock to prevent Assange fleeing and escaping justice.

They monitor every visitor to the embassy, check major deliveries and at one stage even set up a mobile police station directly outside.

The cost of the operation has already reached £12million and a further five years would bring the bill to an astonishing £30million.

Assange fled to the Embassy in June 2012 after losing a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court to prevent his extradition to Sweden.

At the time he was wanted by the Swedish authorities over claims he sexually assaulted two women during a trip to Stockholm.

Under Swedish law, charges for some offences must be brought within five years of the alleged incident. But Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy for years (pictured) and the charges are due to expire

He was granted asylum by the government of Ecuador but cannot travel to the country because he will be arrested first.

The outspoken former computer hacker believes he will then be forced to go to the U.S. where he could be prosecuted over information published by WikiLeaks.

The saga took a dramatic twist yesterday when Swedish prosecutors said three of the four allegations he faces will reach their five-year expiry date with a week.

Under the country’s statute of limitations, one allegation of sexual molestation and one of unlawful coercion will expire today (THURS). A third claim of sexual molestation can no longer be pursued after August 18.

But the embarrassing legal impasse remains in place because an allegation of rape against a second woman remains.

The Swedish authorities have shown no signs of backing down and intense diplomatic efforts behind the scenes have been fruitless.

Senior police officers have expressed their frustration at the cost of the policing operation, with one senior figure branding it ‘eye-watering’.

But they are bound by the law which means they must take every possible step to honour the valid extradition request by Sweden.

And privately officers admit that so much is at stake after a three year stand-off that it would be unthinkable to consider letting Assange ‘off the hook’.

Assange has previously agreed to be interviewed by the Swedish inside the Embassy but claimed in June the country’s chief prosecutor cancelled an appointment.

Assange still faces one more accusation of rape, meaning he could still be extradited to Sweden if he left the embassy within five years. He has been under 24-hour guard at the Knightsbridge townhouse since 2012

A spokesman for the Swedish Prosecution Authority said: ‘The prosecutor still wants to interview him. The prosecutor still has not got permission from Ecuador.’

Kristinn Hrafnsson, of Wikileaks, said it would be ‘absolutely ridiculous’ if the rape case was to remain open.

He: ‘It’s quite obvious that the Swedish authorities waited all these years … It’s come to a time to end this. That case should be dropped as well.’

Mr Hrafnsson has repeatedly said that Assange has no intention of handing himself in and would only leave if the police ‘call off the siege outside’.

Lawyer Claes Borgstrom, who represents one of the alleged victims, called the expiration of the allegations an ‘injustice’.

He told the Times: ‘On one hand she wants him ... to answer to the allegations, and of course to be convicted. But on the other hand she is relieved that she will not have to stand in court.’

There has been speculation that the impact of living in such a confined space for so long could drive Assange out to seek hospital treatment.

He has been reported to be suffering from vitamin D deficiency due to a lack of sunlight and a chronic lung complaint because of life without fresh air.

London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon, who oversees the work of the Met, called on Assange to ‘walk out’ and ‘let justice prevail.’

She added: ‘He has devalued all his past work in highlighting abuses of power around the world by his extreme arrogance in evading an arrest warrant and the fair judicial process of Sweden.

‘Millions of pounds of public money has now been squandered and policing in London has been put under further pressure simply due to his actions.

‘It is time he stopped putting his ego above that of ordinary Londoners who are picking up this huge policing bill.’