Council set to scrap £400,000 civic newspaper

COUNCILLORS are set to pull the plug on a free council newspaper which costs the taxpayer nearly £400,000 every year.

The NY Times is currently produced 11 times a year by North Yorkshire County Council and distributed for free to 270,000 houses at a cost of £389,000. But council officers have recommended to an executive meeting next Tuesday to discontinue the paper in a bid to cut costs.

Coun Bill Hoult, deputy leader of the County Council Liberal Democrat group, said: “We have always considered it a waste of taxpayers’ money. At a time when the council is looking at cutting services across the county, spending nearly £400,000 on a free paper is indefensible.”