Highly paid consultants are pocketing £100,000 of Bradford Council Tax payer's money every month, it was claimed today.

A Labour councillor accused the Tory-run Council of a "scandalous" waste of cash, paying for consultants with little improvements in services to show for it while the authority claimed it was struggling to balance the books.

Councillor Dave Green (Odsal) said: "The price of the Council's 'consultant culture' is going through the roof. By its own admission, the Council is spending £80,000-£100,000 every month and that is only part of the picture."

Councillor Green, Labour's spokesman for the economy, received the information from officers.

He said: "We have an endless flow of consultants coming in and out of the Council at the expense of local tax payers. It is clear that £8 of every Council Tax payer's money goes straight into the consultant's pocket every year, and what are the residents getting in return? Has this advice actually improved everything? Are the streets getting any cleaner and the roads any better?"

He said it was scandalous that public money was being spent on consultants when the Tories and Liberal Democrats claimed the authority was strapped for cash.

Councillor Green added: "I accept there are times when outside advice is needed, but the situation is getting ridiculous. We've even had consultants' reports on consultants reports.

"Far too much of the work is being farmed out in secret without decisions coming anywhere near the democratic process."

Councillor Green said the Council's own figures showed that consultants had cost at least £1.4 million in the past 18 months, and 48 commissions had been put out to consultants.

He added that research, bought in by the Council, included studies for an options appraisal for Shipley Market Hall and a road signing strategy for the district.

But Tory Council leader Councillor Margaret Eaton said much of the research went back to the time when Labour was in control.

She said the Council was compelled by the Government to bring in a large number of independent consultants, including the issue of transferring council houses. It was sometimes important to bring in professional consultants to get a clear picture of what could be achieved, she said.