SPENDING on arts projects by Selby District Council is among the lowest of all local authorities in the UK.

New figures which show the spending of authorities around the country in 2013/2014, showed Selby spent nothing on arts and culture in that time, and placed 313th out of 320 authorities.

Labour leader in Selby, Cllr Steve Shaw-Wright, said the authority was doing good work to seek investment in business in the region, but called the lack of spending on arts and culture "short-sighted".

He said: "The council lacks any vision as to diversification of inward investment and appears blinkered to the opportunities on offer by the Arts.

"There are 10 million visits to the UK involved engagement with the arts and culture, representing 32 per cent of all visits to the UK and 42 per cent of all inbound tourism-related generating expenditure, amounting to £7.6 billion. Selby should be looking to grab a slice of that market as well. "

Cllr Gillian Ivey, deputy leader of the council, said the authority had been focused on promoting active leisure in recent years, but remained open to working with others on cultural events.

Cllr Ivey said the Town Council and individuals such as Eva Lambert were doing excellent work with live music and theatrical events, and a community cinema, but demand from people in Selby was rarely forthcoming.

She said: "It's an interesting point because noone's ever said to me we need more of this. People don't ask for cultural things and we've certainly concentrated on providing services for them that the council is there to provide.

"In an ideal world, we should have done something but we have concentrated instead on active leisure. A lot of work we do in partnership with other organisations and people, and if the council could lend it's support to something of that nature in partnership with someone else, then we would be willing to consider it. But we have to be careful how we spend the council's money and we are. The council is always prepared to consider proposals to do things but we like to do it in partnership with other people."

The figures, from the Office of National Statistics, also showed City of York Council placed 58th on the list, spending £9.61 per person on arts and culture, while East Riding of Yorkshire placed 121st, spending £6.39 per person.