BASILDON Council has been attacked for spending even more cash on refurbishing its headquarters.

Labour group leader Lynda Gordon has slammed the council’s plans to completely refurbish three rooms in the Basildon Centre which are used by the political parties.

The council is installing a 26-inch flatscreen television, a computer and a printer in each room, as well as a new table, set of chairs, and a new clock.

The rooms will also be repainted.

It follows reports the council spent nearly £20,000 on a new boardroom, complete with 52-inch flatscreen TV, DVD player and Freeview set-top-box.

The improvements are part of a complete refurbishment of the Basildon Centre, costing £2million, which is already nearly £250,000 over budget.

Yet the centre is earmarked for demolition within five years.

Mrs Gordon said the rooms are fine as they are and believes the plan is unacceptable.

She said: “There is absolutely nothing wrong with the decor of our existing rooms and the furniture is perfectly fine.

“How much more money are they going to spend on that building?

“I don’t understand why they think we need this many TVs.

“The Labour group is totally opposed to council tax payers’ money being used in this way.”

The revamped rooms, for use by the three main political groups represented at the council, are due to be upgraded in February.

But Mrs Gordon said the Labour councillors spent very little time in their group room, so revamping it would be a waste of money.

Lib Dem leader Geoff Williams said he used the group room on a regular basis for meetings and to store his paperwork, but also said it did not need to be refurbished.

He said: “The room doesn’t need the latest high-tech equipment and most people have got computers at home, so they don’t need to use the council computer.”

He also said there was nothing wrong with the existing furniture or decor.

He added: “The council could find better ways to spend its money.”