Two London councils have come under fire for spending tens of thousands of pounds on hiring celebrities for events.
TV chef Ainsley Harriott picked up £10,750 from Tower Hamlets for judging a curry competition, and 70s band Sister Sledge were paid £18,000 by Waltham Forest Council to headline the Chingford Big Weekender.
The appearance fees were revealed through freedom of information (FoI) requests by the Sun newspaper that found 348 town halls around the country spent a total of £753,013 last year on the services of celebs for events including concerts, competitions and Christmas lights switch-ons.
Sister Sledge got a cool £18,000 for performing in Waltham Forest
The total figure could be higher as 79 councils did not respond to the FoI requests, the Sun reported.
Andy Silvester, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, told the paper: "You couldn't make it up. The deficit must be cut, and that means councils waging war on wasteful spending like this."
Tower Hamlets has defended the cost of hiring Harriott for its Taste of Brick Lane festival, saying it helped the event gain national coverage and was beneficial to businesses.
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