A HARD-UP council was criticised yesterday for spending £18,000 to send managers on a team-building exercise.

Newcastle upon Tyne City Council cut its budget by £6.2m this year and reduced spending on services such as school meals.

Yet 70 managers from the Labour-run authority's community and housing directorate were sent to a team-building event at Redworth Hall hotel and country club, near Darlington.

The cost was £18,250 - £8,750 for accommodation and £9,500 in management consultants' fees.

The council admitted that each delegate's overnight stay had cost taxpayers £260.

It justified the trip as a valuable team-building exercise in a department that had undergone a lot of change.

But Councillor Bob Renton, the Liberal Democrat housing spokesman, said: "I'm certain the money could have been better spent on housing repairs.

"If they had to have a team- building exercise there are plenty of hotels in Newcastle they could have stayed at which would not have meant an overnight stay."

Councillor Ruth Robson, Labour's cabinet spokeswoman for community and housing, said: "There are occasions when staff need to get away and work on team skills.

"The department has gone through a quite substantial redesign."