THERE'S a storm in a china tea cup brewing over plans to sell off some of the council's civic regalia.

A motion suggested by the Greens to see if the council's family silver could be sold off has provoked outrage from the Labour and Conservative groups.

The civic regalia is insured for £365,000 but the Greens believe much of it serves little purpose and should be sold to ease the council's cash crisis.

But Labour's group leader Abbott Bryning says the council's finances aren't that bad and any moves to sell the silver would be undignified and desperate.

The motion to look at the regalia was backed by the Independents and Liberals and Green leader, Cllr Jon Barry, said: "We are not proposing that any of the civic regalia be sold at this stage. What we do want to do, however, is examine the list carefully to see if there is anything that has little heritage or cultural value or is unlikely to ever be seen by the public."

It costs the authority £5,000 a year to insure the £365,000 worth of silverware and civic regalia.

The Greens were also surprised at the opposition to their plans from the Labour group.

Cllr Emily Heath said: "Sometimes I think the Labour Group is even more conservative than the Tories! Especially in the current climate, we need to examine every way to raise money. If there are items of little value to us or the public that are lying around in dusty town hall basements, we should either put them on display or think about using them to reduce the Council Tax."

Despite recent claims by Labour's deputy leader, Cllr Ian Barker, Cllr Bryning argued: "This is a desperate measure, the council's financial situation is not that bad. A lot of it has been given to us as a gift and it's not right to be hawking it around auction rooms trying to sell it. It's part of the city's heritage and frankly I can't see the point."