South Lakeland District Council’s newsletter came in for sharp criticism at a meeting of Lakes Parish Council for being a ‘waste of public money at a time of cutbacks’.

Parish councillors said it featured old news already in The Westmorland Gazette and elsewhere, and with such a high percentage of holiday homes in the area, many copies would never be read.

In its defence, SLDC member Vivienne Rees said the three editions a year were delivered by Royal Mail to 55,000 homes at a cost of £10,000 per issue, offset by £1,500-2,000 income from advertisers.

The total cost of all three editions was £30,000 a year or just 45p per household, so it was a cost-effective way to communicate, and there would be complaints if SLDC failed to communicate.

Lakes Parish Council said the £30,000 spent annually on the newsletter could go a long way towards keeping public toilets open in the area, and has written to SLDC to express its view.