A COUNCIL road gritting team has scooped a tax-free £1,000-a-head payout -- even though the men spent the winter nights at home with their feet up.

Burnley council has agreed to hand out the money to the winter maintenance squad for NOT working after a mix up left them off the out-of-hours rota -- which meant they missed out on call-out cash.

The men protested to their union, Unison, which took up the grievance with the council and won, hammering out a deal which will give the team from the health and cleansing unit a tax-free compensation package.

And that will land council taxpayers with a total £10,500 bill, including paying the men's tax and national insurance for work they didn't do. Council finance chief Coun Peter Kenyon reported the outcome to the town council, explaining the men had been left off the rota and had lodged an official grievance which was upheld.

"When this emerged I was dismayed. I do not regard what has happened here as anything to be proud of. I hope we all do our best to ensure that incidents like this do not happen again," he told councillors.

Coun Kenyon said today the officer responsible for the problem had left the authority so no further action could be taken.

He added: " I am not at all happy because we are having to spend £10,500 which could have been put to much better use."

LibDem leader Gordon Birtwistle feared the settlement could put the council on a slippery slope, adding: "It is frightening."

And Independent group leader Harry Brooks who described it as "astonishing".

He said it was also incredible that the authority as making tax-free payouts adding: "The whole thing is a classic example of a weak council caving into demands from the workforce."

But the deal was welcomed by town hall Unison spokesman Peter Thorne who said the men's case was just and the union was satisfied with the outcome.