LAST year we revealed that Blackburn with Darwen Council had spent £100,000 hiring hotels for staff away days and get-togethers.

After facing strong criticism, council chiefs vowed to use its own buildings and facilities in future.

But, despite the pledge, today it has emerged that £23,000 of taxpayers’ cash was used to send 80 people to Blackpool for three days earlier this month.

The group was put up in a four-star hotel on the promenade where the council’s own staff staged workshops for them on health and wellbeing.

Now, it must be stated that this time the recipients of ‘Blackpool’s premier hotel’ were not council staff, but community volunteers.

Council chiefs said the trip was to reward the ‘tireless’ workers and then get them to spread the ‘get healthy’ message in their communities.

It is of course right that these unsung heroes are rewarded.

But this was the wrong way to do it.

We are living in times of financial turmoil.

This year, councils will face more of a challenge than ever to keep council tax rises down so struggling families are not further hit.

And it is likely that finance chiefs across the country will be having to make tough choices as they weigh up cuts in services to peg back council tax.

So in these times when not a penny can be wasted, spending £23,000 on a three-day season trip cannot be justified.