An angry Tory councillor has blasted Cheshire East for wasting £5,000 of council tax payers money by holding a 90-minute meeting – over two days.

Councillor David Brickhill has written to the council’s chief executive Erika Wenzel to say he is ‘very concerned at the totally unnecessary waste of taxpayers’ money’.

Instead of one cost for room hire, lunch and travelling expenses for about 100 people, the amount was doubled, he said.

"This would be tolerable if the meetings were of such length to merit an adjournment," said Coun Brickhill.

"However, the Wednesday meeting at Tatton Park went on for just over an hour and the meeting the following day at Congleton lasted for a mere 30 minutes.

"I put the money wasted in the region of £5,000 as well as the waste of time caused by extra travelling."

The former Crewe and Nantwich councillor, who now represents Doddington, said he had asked for the two meetings to be condensed into one – as they were at Cheshire County Council and Crewe and Nantwich – but was told Macclesfield always held its AGM over two days.

"If that’s true, it commenced after 1985 when I left the council," said Coun Brickhill. "There’s no justification whatsoever for holding the meeting over two days.

"The leader (Coun Wesley Fitzgerald) told me it was so his guests didn’t have to sit through the second half of the meeting as it might contain some contentious issues."

Coun Brickhill said if the council presses ahead with a two-day annual meeting for next year, as is already in the diary, he’ll put forward a counter motion demanding it is fitted into one day.

Cheshire East has come under fire in the past for wasting money.

Last year the Tory-controlled council spent £16,000 on a stand at the Conservative Conference.

A Cheshire East Council spokesman said: "The decision to hold mayor-making over two days was based on the experience of many other authorities where the ceremonial of mayor-making has been spoiled by the politically charged atmosphere of the business section of the agenda.

"However, the points raised by Coun Brickhill about the time taken and the costs involved in this arrangement are valid.

"We’re developing a number of options for next year to enable mayor-making and the annual council on the same day."