MORE than £1,000 of public money was used to send two York councillors and three officials to the Britain In Bloom awards in Scotland.

The £1,015 bill covered hotel and travel costs for City of York Council cabinet members Sonja Crisp and Janet Looker and three officers when they attended the St Andrews ceremony in September.

The council’s Conservative and Liberal Democrat groups, who obtained the details through the Freedom of Information Act, criticised the expenditure and the delegation’s size as excessive when the authority needed to save £21 million this year.

Council leader James Alexander said the trip was justified as York was competing in the “city” category at the finals for the first time in many years, securing a silver gilt award, and the expenses were a “modest amount”.

But Coun George Barton, Conservative councillor for Wheldrake, said: “Yet again, this sends out the wrong message from Labour.

“When the council is watching every penny, I’m afraid the money is needed elsewhere and I can’t believe it was necessary to send five people to represent us. I do not believe this kind of expense is acceptable.”

Lib Dem leader Coun Carol Runciman said: “Labour are very quick to complain about how spending cuts are making it difficult for them to set next year’s budget, but never seem to realise they are constantly taking decisions about how to prioritise spending.

“This money could have been spent on services for residents, but was instead used to send an excessive number of people to an awards ceremony.”

Coun Alexander said Britain In Bloom success had “boosted York’s reputation”.

He said: “Events such as this have possible economic benefits in creating collaboration between different councils, which can produce more significant savings in the future.

“Such political attacks will not deter the cabinet from doing our job properly by increasing our influence, and this will inevitably cost a modest amount.

"Cabinet members always use railcards where applicable, decreasing the costs, and such cards were used to travel to the Britain In Bloom awards.

“I am aware of 36 incidents where cabinet members have paid for travel themselves, including international flights. These self-met costs total more than the Britain In Bloom costs.”