Tories on Bradford Council have asked external auditors to carry out a full investigation into the costs of councillors "junketing" on foreign trips.

Conservatives say a report calling for councillors to approve a trip to France by Council leader Ian Greenwood is misleading because it does not include the costs of two officers who will travel with him.

The Council agreed a new system in July where all trips costing more than £300 would need the official go-ahead from members.

But Tory leader Councillor Margaret Eaton claims:

A trip made to a conference last year attended by a number of Labour councillors is omitted from a list of visits dating back to 1994 which went to the policy and resources committee in July.

Labour members have already been on trips this month which have not yet gone through committees for approval.

Coun Eaton - who was today asking the Council's external auditors KPMG to investigate - says the trip last year to the Local Government Information Unit conference in Nottingham is not on the list published in July.

She claimed at least one member of the district Labour party who was not a councillor had accompanied no fewer than seven Labour councillors to the event.

The report, which was due to be considered today by the corporate executive sub committee, asks members to approve a trip to Lille by Coun Greenwood for the Eurocities conference. But today's meeting was called off because not enough councillors attended.

Coun Greenwood said that Coun Eaton should contact Chief Executive Richard Penn and ask him to investigate any concerns.

He added: "I instructed the officers to put all trips on the list that went to the policy and resources committee. If there is an omission we will put it right."

Coun Greenwood said members only went on visits and conferences which benefited the district, but Coun Eaton wanted everyone to be "inward-looking and introverted".

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