The Conservatives have accused Reform of wasting cash by widening parking spaces for the council leaders.
Four bays at County Hall in Lincoln have been converted to three bigger ones – reserved for the leader, deputy leader and chair – at a cost of £1,135, writes Local Democracy Reporter Jamie Waller.
Conservatives claim Reform are breaking their promises to cut waste, and have asked the party to pay the money back.
However the ruling group say the money is a drop in the ocean compared to the cash they’ve saved.
A spokesman for the Conservative group said: “Reform UK promised to cut wasteful spending.
“Yet their first move is to spend public money on expanding their own private parking bays.
“This is exactly the kind of waste they claimed to oppose. We call on Coun Sean Matthews to reimburse the full cost to the Lincolnshire taxpayer.”
A picture shared by the group appears to show that the work, which happened several months ago, consisted of removing the previous spaces’ white lines and drawing new ones.
Lincolnshire County Council hasn’t responded to requests for comment, however Coun Matthews appeared on BBC Radio Lincolnshire to dismiss claims it was waste.
He told Sean Dunderdale: “Those parking spaces were beyond the minimum standard – they were tight.
“It wasn’t a problem before because the Tories hardly came into the office. Me and my office are in the office every single day.”
Coun Matthews said he didn’t know exactly how much the work would cost when he arranged it, but was told a ballpark figure.
He added: “I accept that £1,000 might seem like a lot, but it means we can crack on and do our work, day in and day out – something that didn’t use to happen before – and get better deals for the Lincolnshire people.”
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