Croydon Council has been criticised for adding a new sound system worth more than £170,000 to its council chamber only months after cutting lollipop ladies to save £60,000.
The new system, which costs £176,000, was installed in the council chamber over the August recess with the council saying it will enable more people to hear and see what is happening at meetings.
The decision to spend more than £170,000 on the system has been criticised by opposition councillors and Labour prospective candidate for Waddon ward, Andrew Pelling.
Councillor Tony Newman, leader of the Labour opposition, said he was disappointed on the level of investment in the new system.
He said it was comparable to the £3.1m the council spent on new furniture for their new headquarter, which they move into this year.
Coun Newman also cited the council had cut vital services such as road crossing patrols for £60,000 but were spending nearly three times that on new system.
He said: "You need a decent system but you don’t need a state of the art system, not when you are making such severe cuts to crucial services across the borough.
"There are huge issues in the borough and this seems to me an indulgence too far."
A council spokeswoman said the council looked at a number of options and chose the system which offered the best value for money and which will make engaging in meetings much easier.
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