WE accept that £4,000 is a drop in the ocean when it is set in the context of public sector finances.

But we keep getting told by under pressure council bosses that every penny counts in the face of the Government’s austerity drive which is leading to massive jobs losses and widespread cutbacks in public services.

It sticks in the throat, therefore, to discover that council staff in our region called the speaking clock 12,000 times between April 2009 and March this year.

It is actually a higher cost than that because our figures, obtained under The Freedom of Information Act, do not include data from several councils which refused to give us the information, ironically because it would be too time-consuming and expensive to do so.

Why on earth do council staff need to call the Speaking Clock?

Even if they don’t own a watch, or are not in close proximity to a clock, every computer screen has an up to date record of the time.

There is also evidence of staff using council phones to vote for their favourite X Factor stars and make calls to shopping channels.

It makes you wonder what else is going on.

We trust that procedures will be tightened up in the face of this waste of time and taxpayers’ money, which is bound to wind up our readers.