Council staff spend £5m in two years, buying make up, fast food and trips to India Figures published by the Brentwood Gazette as part of an investigation into council waste found officers spent £5,136,145 in 27 months. Eric Pickles, local government secretary and Brentwood and Ongar MP told the newspaper the amount "strikes him as excessive." He said: "People at Essex County Council need to realise that it isn't Essex's money, it isn't the Government's money, it is the public's money and the public have a right to know how it is being spent." He advised the council to publish all transactions online, adding: "If they do that you are not likely to get money spent on cosmetics and McDonald's." Last month, a report by the Audit commission criticised council staff for failing to provide receipts in relation to purchases made on the card "in some cases." It recommended: "The Council should issue further instructions to staff explaining they must submit receipts with claims and consider withdrawing procurement cards in response to expenditure being incurred with no receipt repeatedly." Since December 2009, the council have spent £3,827 on bars, discos and nightclubs, £644 on cosmetics, £1,915 on hair and beauty shops and £635,960 in supermarkets and grocery stores. Other receipts show spending on flights with Virgin Atlantic, alcohol from Majestic Wines and trips to Thrope Park, Alton Towers and the London Eye. A further £53,869 was spent on theatre productions, £51,350 on card, gift and souvenir shops and £67.89 at a fancy dress shop. Another £3,116 was spent on six people staying at the Nan Lin Hotel in China, and £1,301 for six people to stay at the Taj Lands End hotel in India. The figures do not include details of former leader Lord Hanningfield, who is being investigated by police for his expenses. Robert Oxley, from the Taxpayers" Alliance, said: "Taxpayers will be left gobsmacked that their money has been spent on the council living it up at night clubs plus stays at five star hotels, shoe shining and even hat cleaning. Residents will be left wondering why they are picking up bills totalling tens of thousands of pounds at country clubs, florists, bakeries and record shops. "The receipts suggest officers at Essex County Council have been enjoying the high life at taxpayers" expense." The P cards, which are intended for low value transactions under £2,000, provided by Barclaycard and have an interest rate of 0 per cent, are currently used by 757 council officers and no council members. The council's policy states they must not be used for personal purchases or the withdrawal of cash, with staff instructed to provide receipts for every transaction. A spokeswoman for Essex County Council said: "Essex County Council has a robust policy relating to spend on p-cards and all p-card holders must be given authorisation by a senior manager to carry out such transactions. Like all businesses Essex County Council incurs costs which must be met and p-cards are an efficient way to do this. The p-cards are used by officers working across all the Council's services including schools, children's homes and our country parks. Essex County Council is the corporate parent for children aged 15 and under who become looked after when their birth parents are unable to provide ongoing care in either a temporary or permanent capacity. Our Looked After Children teams take on the role of a parent for these children and are responsible for their daily care needs while they are under the care of the County Council's Children's Social Services. Approximately 750 of the 38,000 officers employed by Essex County Council have a card and expenditure on them only relates to a small proportion of our overall budget. The total amount spent on p-cards in the 2011/12 financial year was £2.7million which is a small proportion of ECC's overall budget which was £2.096bn. No cardholders have been disciplined in relation to p-cards since December 2009, a spokeswoman added.