Mayor of poorest borough spends £115,000 on new 'vanity' offices

The mayor of London's most deprived borough is under fire for spending £115,000 on an office makeover despite his council seeking £70 million cuts.

Lutfur Rahman, the first directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets, has been accused of wasting money on extending his and colleagues' offices at the town hall in Poplar.

Councillor Peter Golds, Tower Hamlets Conservative leader, said: "It's a vanity project for the mayor and it's completely unnecessary.

"Walls have been knocked through and they've got new carpets, lights, chairs, tables. The whole of the first floor has been redesigned."

Glyn Robbins, from the Hands Off Our Public Services campaign group, said: "At the same time as youth services are being cut, why is it that we are spending money on revamping accommodation for councillors?"

Work to treble the Independent mayor's office space started in April and is due to finish next month. His cabinet's facilities are being enlarged by about 50 per cent.

Council chiefs said that as a directly elected mayor, Mr Rahman has "greater responsibility" than the previous leader and "requires adequate space to conduct his additional duties".

A spokesman added: "As well as areas for support staff, this includes providing suitable space for meetings with members, officers and senior officials of other key organisations from across London and beyond."

The refurbishment also provides offices for the Lib-Dem and Respect parties for the first time, the spokesman added.

Tower Hamlets has the highest rate of child poverty in the UK. The council is now driving through cuts affecting services for children and the elderly, and it announced last year that more than 500 town hall jobs would go.