MEMBERS of the TaxPayers’ Alliance demonstrated outside Bournemouth town hall yesterday, claiming Bournemouth council should be less wasteful of taxpayers’ money.

Group chief executive Jonathan Isaby led the campaign to raise awareness and promote group numbers.

According to their claims, the council pays six-figure salaries to several town hall bosses and has increased council tax by 77.8 per cent in real terms since 1996-7 but doesn’t spend this all on essential services.

“And having suspended the Bank of Bournemouth after 22 loans given out just over a year strikes us as extraordinary,” Mr Isaby said. “Whether they be the Chancellor of the Exchequer or a back bencher of Bournemouth, every penny needs to be spent wisely and efficiently and we, as the electorate, need to keep them on their toes.”

A spokesperson for the council said: “The council is very clear with its spending priorities as is evidenced by the fact that we spend around 75 per cent of our net budget per year on supporting the most vulnerable adults and children in our society.

“As far as raising council tax is concerned, we have the second lowest council tax in Dorset having frozen our precept for the past five years. Our 3.99 per cent increase for 2016/17 is the first in six years and includes the government’s two per cent ASC precept which further goes to support vulnerable adults in our society.

“Our salaries are commensurate with other public sector organisations of similar size and our pay and remuneration is determined by the Greater London Provincial Council job evaluation scheme (GLPC).”