APPROXIMATELY £3m of council spending has been identified as unnecessary by Conservatives in Darlington.

But Darlington Borough Council says the proposed savings are all areas of expenditure that are needed.

The opposition Conservative group has gone through itemised spending figures and Freedom of Information Requests to discover that between April last year and March, the council is estimated to have spent: £402,000 on marketing, PR and advertising, including the Town Crier magazine; £800,000 on non-teaching agency staff; £1.4m on external consultants; Average of £100,000 a year on staff suspended on full pay.

The Tories say that, if elected, they would combine the council's PR function with other authorities or put the service out to tender.

They also plan to explore the possibility of an in-house staff bank to avoid spending money on agencies.

To avoid spending money on consultants they would share best practice with other councils.

Councillor Heather Scott, the Conservative group leader, said: "A simple review of published information demonstrates there is ample scope for savings without hitting the front line.

"The fact Labour has maxed out Darlington's credit card demonstrates it cannot be trusted to take the right decisions in the years to come."

However, last night a council spokeswoman justified the expenditure.

She said: "The figure quoted for marketing and advertising includes a substantial amount of public notices, which are required by law.

"The council also runs a number of large sports and arts venues which require advertising, however, this spending is refunded through the income generated on these sites - for example, the Dolphin Centre and Civic Theatre."

She said agency staff were used in difficult to recruit areas, such as social work and also in the run up to staffing reductions, to avoid costs.

Consultants were also used for contracted design and management work where it was not cost-effective to have permanent staff, she said.

She added it was the council's policy to only suspend staff when it was absolutely essential to do so.