Council mayors in Northern Ireland have spent thousands of pounds of ratepayers' cash buying themselves clothes.
More than £5,600 was claimed by mayors or chairpersons in recent years for clothing expenses, including suits, shirts, dresses, shoes and trainers.
The spending is on top of extra wages received for the ceremonial role, which involves chairing meetings and representing the council at events.
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Public spending campaigners hit out at the costs, saying that mayors and chairpersons should "dress themselves on their own dime".
Eight of the 11 councils either provide their mayors or chairpersons with a clothing allowance or permit them to claim back the spending through expenses.
A total of £5,686.70 was spent on clothing between 2019 and early November last year, according to Freedom of Information responses to Belfast Live.
The largest spend was in Lisburn and Castlereagh council at £2,060, followed by Newry, Mourne and Down council with £1,380.
Lisburn and Castlereagh council has said its mayor and deputy mayor can claim expenses for "reasonable" clothing costs.
Its guidance says: "This is generally considered to be two business suits and one formal suit for the mayor and one each for the deputy mayor, plus a number of shirts and pair of shoes.
"In the case of a female mayor/deputy mayor, then a higher allowance will be necessary and double the male allowance would be considered reasonable, particularly as female outfits tend to be seasonal and less durable."
The council provides a clothing allowance for the mayor "as they represent the council at many civic events and community occasions throughout their year in office", a spokeswoman said.
SDLP Newry councillor Michael Savage had the highest bill of any mayor or chairperson over the period.
He racked up £890 in expenses in the early months of his 2022 term as chairperson for items such as suits, shirts, ties and shoes.
The SDLP was approached for comment.
In Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon council, £1,184 was spent on clothes over three mayoral terms from 2019/20 to 2021/22. Items included a £70 jumper and Adidas trainers from JD Sports worth £70.
Almost £643 was spent in Ards and North Down council, the local authority said.
A total of £320 was spent in Mid Ulster District Council in 2020, while £99 was spent on a suit in 2022 for the Antrim and Newtownabbey council mayor.
No money was spent in Belfast, Derry and Strabane, and Causeway Coast and Glens councils, as their councillors and mayors cannot claim for clothing on their expenses.
Fermanagh and Omagh council gives its chairpersons a £500 clothing allowance, but no clothing expenses were claimed between 2019/20 and 2021/22.
Mid and East Antrim council also said there was no spending by mayors on clothes between May 2019 and early November 2022.
Joe Ventre, digital campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, hit out at the costs.
He said: "These local bigwigs already receive compensation for their roles, yet now it turns out they're pocketing extra cash for basic living expenses.
"Northern Irish councils should tell their mayors to dress themselves on their own dime."
The spending emerges following a controversy over Mid and East Antrim council failing to disclose a former mayor's clothing expenses.
Former DUP councillor Audrey Wales racked up a clothing bill worth more than £2,300 during her time as mayor in 2016/17.
But when asked under FOI in 2019 shortly before an election about the expenditure, the council claimed Ms Wales had only spent £190.
Ms Wales said she had sent a cheque at the time reimbursing her council for most of the spending to stop "electorally motivated questions" - but the cheque was never cashed.
The DUP woman, who sent a second cheque in 2021 after learning the first had not been processed, insisted that "at all times" she acted in line with "guidance from council officials".
A leaked report commissioned last year by the council to examine the episode found its FOI response had been "inaccurate" and involved "a deliberate manipulation".
The council has repeatedly refused to comment on the mayoral expenses controversy.
But in a recent FOI response, it told Belfast Live it "forwarded" the internal report to the PSNI and Public Prosecution Service "for further investigation".
The controversy is understood to have become part of a wider PSNI probe into the council which in 2021 saw its Ballymena headquarters raided by detectives.
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