Last updated 07:03, Friday, 18 July 2008

SIX new seats in Cockermouth’s Market Place cost £60,000, it has been revealed.

Controversial: The new seats in Market Place

The brightly coloured resin seats are one of the final parts of the controversial £1.2 million revamp, co-ordinated by Cockermouth Partnership.

Since the seats were installed, people have complained that they look cheap and out of keeping

A Cockermouth businessman who has a seat outside his hotel submitted a Freedom of Information request to Allerdale council, the accountable body for the Market Place project.

John Carlin, of Allerdale Court Hotel, was told it cost £58,968.28 to design and manufacture the six bespoke seats, which sit on a stainless steel frame.

Mr Carlin said: “The total cost was about £60,000. That’s £10,000 a seat. It is obscene that they spend that amount of money on seats of little visual worth.

“Some people are locked up for spending more than £20,000 taxpayers’ money. “It is out of keeping for the area.

“It is nice to have seating in Market Place but there should have been more appropriate benches along the sides. They can’t be used because they are under the lime trees and they drop seeds on to them.

“People from Cockermouth Partnership said they were chosen because they matched the colour of the buildings. They are not in keeping with what people expect when they come to a Georgian town.”

Isabel Burns, Cockermouth mayor and councillor, said: “They are monstrosities. I can’t believe they have spent that amount of money on the seats. It would have been better spent elsewhere.

“I think it looks like toy town and not what you expect from a Georgian town..

“Spending nearly £60,000 is ridiculous.”

Sue Hannah, of Cockermouth Partnership, said: “The money was approved as a single budget figure. We did not approve individual items like the trees and art work. We approved the total figure that was available. We did not ask individual questions about how much it broke down.”

Mike O’Connell, of BCA landscapes, which managed the project, said: “The seats are not off the shelf. They are bespoke designed seats. The technology used to make them is new. They are a major feature in the street. They should be resistant to vandal damage and should never need repainting. They are part of the artwork element.

“We had a budget for the artwork and furniture. The costs were approved as part of that.”