IRATE councillors have slammed a decision to spend £22,000 on upgrading council offices after saying vital organisations are in more need of the money.

A number of Chiltern district councillors were furious after learning at a meeting of the full council on Tuesday that their executive want to spend thousands to enlarge the members' room and the executive room.

It is also proposed to build a new office for the chairman of the council at the offices in King George V Road, in Amersham.

Councillors at the meeting suggested they should be spending the money on the Citizens Advice Bureau in Market Square, Chesham, after there were fears it would close unless more cash could be found to fund training costs.

Cllr Chris Spruytenburg (Lib Dem, Asheridge Vale) said: "The expenditure is unnecessary. How can we justify this sort of expenditure? It is the CAB whose grant has been cut, cutting it by ten per cent.

"Now the offices are closed two afternoons per week."

However, members voted against the decision being reviewed by 20 votes to 19 as they said it would open up a 'Pandora's Box'.

Cllr Don Phillips, leader of the council's executive, said after the meeting, "We are giving over 55 per cent of grants to CAB and there is a limit.

"We said last night we are going to form a small group to shed some light on its running costs."

At last week's Chiltern CAB annual general meeting, chairman Jane Bramwell said they had received letters from Chiltern District Council to look elsewhere for funding. She said: "There is no funding elsewhere. We are completely stuck really."

Cllr Don Phillips said in response at the meeting that out of a total of council grant fund of £285,000 for organisations for 2001, £152,000 went to the CAB.

The CAB gives free support and advice to people on such issues as employment, welfare and debt repayment.

The bulk of its funding comes from the council.

Cllr Peter Lole (Con, Austenwood, Chalfont St Peter) said: "We did not cut the CAB, we kept it level and, after investigating, we found that we spent more on the CAB than we did in other areas."