FUNERAL costs, body armour, a roundabout sculpture and almost £350,000 in pension compensation were paid out by Cherwell District Council bosses, new figures show.

The two funerals cost £2,947 and were for people who had no assets. Councils have a legal duty to pay in these circumstances.

A further £1,870 went on stab vests – the same protective clothing worn by police officers – for antisocial behaviour officers.

Four cheques totalling £349,692.21 were pensions compensation for 39 employees who were either made redundant or took early retirement.

The figures are revealed as the council publishes all spending over £500 as demanded of all councils by the coalition Government.

Cherwell also paid:

  • £1,750 towards a football sculpture at the Spiceball Centre roundabout, Banbury. Castle Quay shopping centre paid the other £1,750

    £5,397.50 on legal advice for “advice on employment law issues” from restructuring

    £51,605.04 fighting the Fritwell windfarm, later approved

    £41,004.16 fighting the Ardley incinerator plan, also approved £8,000 on a survey over its antisocial behaviour work

    £11,620 on a staff satisfaction survey £20,706.75 on professional fees to get a £414,134 VAT refund.

Les Sibley, leader of the Labour opposition group, said: “Now they can view the list of payments, I am sure people will have concerns about how their money is spent, especially when they see one of the biggest costs of all is consultants’ fees.

“Consultants do come at quite a high cost, and people may seek justification about why the council has spent this or that amount of money on a particular project.”

James Macnamara, Cherwell’s executive member for resources and communications, said:“It is easy to go through this list and pick out items which at first glance appear unnecessary or extravagant but each has a perfectly reasonable explanation for anyone who cares to take a closer look.

“Our aim is to make sure taxpayers can keep an eye on how we spend their money and hold us to account if we step out of line. And though council staff are already very careful with expenditure, this will act as a further restraint.”