Our local councils are being slammed for paying staff mileage well above the recommended rate.

Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch Councils all paid 65p a mile last year, an increase of 5p on the previous year, according to the TaxPayers' Alliance.

The HMRC approved rate is just 40p, but eighty percent of local authorities in the UK paid over that, with a national average of 56p.