TOWN hall staff and councillors spent more than £5,000 of council money on a four-day trip to Hilden, Germany.

Warrington Borough Council came out 52 out of 338 councils for the most money spent on overseas trips for it’s staff.

In total £9,404 was spent on airfares and accommodation by the council over the year 2007/8, but the council was outdone by Orkney Council who spent £318,898 in air fares for the same period and Coventry City Council who spent £20,000 on a visit to a real estate show in Cannes, France.

WBCs biggest claim was £5,594 for a trip to Warrington’s twin town of Hilden. The four night trip saw 12 council staff and councillors, including the then Mayor of Warrington, Clr Celia Jordan, visit the town to mark the 40th anniversary of the twinning between the two towns.

The survey, conducted by More 4 News, showed that more than £3 million was spent by councils on foreign trips during the year 2007/8.

A council spokesman said: “The expenses in the main covered a visit to our twin town in Hilden, Germany. The trip marked the 40th anniversary of this successful international partnership and included the Mayor, councillors and officers.

“Following a review of our partnership with Hilden, the focus of the visit was to build links between schools in the two towns, so several schools were represented. We also, at Hilden’s request, took representatives from our community safety partnership. This meant that during the four day visit links between schools, community programmes and local businesses in the two towns were both formed and strengthened.”