COUNCILS in the region facing unprecedented funding cuts were last night accused of wasting time and money after it emerged they have spent thousands of pounds ringing the Speaking Clock.

Local authorities in the North-East and North Yorkshire paid out more than £4,000 in two years for the BT service.

Council staff called to check the time an estimated 12,000 times between April 2009 and March this year.

The Speaking Clock costs 31p per minute from a BT landline – but is free online.

The expenditure was last night branded a waste of money by public spending pressure group the Taxpayers’ Alliance, which called on staff to use clocks instead.

Robert Oxley, the group’s campaign manager, said: “There’s absolutely no need for council staff to be racking up bills listening to the Speaking Clock. If they’re stuck for the time, they could easily look online or at the clocks on the wall that taxpayers have already paid for.

“Many local residents will worry that calls to the Speaking Clock are indicative of council staff wasting time when they should be getting on with the job that taxpayers pay them for.”

The figures were obtained by The Northern Echo using Freedom of Information powers after allegations that council staff in the region had been pulled up by bosses for calling the Speaking Clock to create the impression they were working.

According to responses, no council worker was disciplined for calling the Speaking Clock.

Among the biggest users of the service was Durham County Council, which spent more than £600 over two years. Don McLure, the council’s corporate director for resources, said the authority was already planning to review its policy on the Speaking Clock and similar telephone numbers, and would be consulting elected members on the issue.

He added: “As a local authority, we take our role as custodian of public finances extremely seriously and all expenditure is constantly monitored and reviewed.

“There will very rarely be circumstances where it is necessary to access the Speaking Clock routinely as part of any council role.”

The council is having to make cuts of £125m by 2015, and has embarked on a huge cost-cutting exercise that has involved hundreds of jobs being lost and services cut.

Newcastle City Council had the highest bill in the region at £937 for only 12 months.

The council said the majority of calls were made by schools, Tyne and Wear Museums and private companies based within its business development centres.

The authority planned to specify the ability to ban calls to some numbers on a new telephone system to be installed, a spokesman said.

Sunderland spent £281 over the two years, while Hambleton spent £204 and Middlesbrough £152. Hartlepool spent £203 on the service.

Last year, a leaked email revealed that staff at the authority had spent £850 in 12 months on premium rate numbers, including calls to vote for their favourite X Factor stars and to shopping channels.

Other authorities, including Stockton and Richmondshire, said they had blocked staff from using the timekeeping service.

Several councils refused to provide the information, saying it would be too time-consuming and expensive to obtain.

They included Darlington and Harrogate.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said it did not hold data on calls to the service.