article_snippet.sent: Council bosses spent more than £7,000 on a lavish three-course Christmas banquet and disco for staff as a last blow-out before the local authority shut up shop.
article_snippet.sent: Staff feasted on roast turkey and potatoes cooked in duck fat before moving to the dance floor at the party, which was adorned with almost £500 worth of balloons and Christmas crackers.
article_snippet.sent: Ards Borough Council (offices pictured) spent more than £7,000 on a lavish three-course Christmas banquet and disco for staff .
article_snippet.sent: Council chiefs paid £5,225 for caterers for the taxpayer-funded dinner in December last year at the Queens Hall in Newtonards, County Down, with hire of the venue costing £265.80.
article_snippet.sent: A further £950 was spent on a photo booth, disco and security for the 190 staff at the Christmas do, with nearly £500 spent on festive decorations.
article_snippet.sent: Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Christmas is expensive enough for hard-pressed taxpayers without picking up the bill for somebody else's party. '
article_snippet.sent: Meanwhile Newry and Mourne Council, also in Northern Ireland, has spent £10,700 on staff Christmas parties over the last three years, which included subsidising drinks
article_snippet.sent: so workers paid just £1 a pint.
article_snippet.sent: The £1 drinks ‘happy hour’ ran from 7pm to 11pm each year at the parties, which cost the taxpayer £3,500 in 2012 and 2013, and £3,700 in 2014.
article_snippet.sent: has spent £10,700 on staff Christmas parties over the last three years, including subsidising drinks so workers paid just £1 a pint .
article_snippet.sent: This included a three-year total of £6,800 on catering and refreshments, £1,750 on
article_snippet.sent: ‘entertainment’ and £850 on security.
article_snippet.sent: This was a one-off event and staff contributed £10 each towards the cost, meaning that the dinner and entertainment cost £26.37 a person - £5,010.85 in total.
highlights_snippet.sent: Ards Council spent £7,000 on three-course Christmas dinner and disco .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Staff feasted on roast turkey with all the trimmings - paid for by taxpayers .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Almost £500 was spent on balloons and Christmas crackers for the party .
  