A COUNTY councillor has asked Lancashire's Chief Constable not to send Christmas cards during the festive season and spend the cash on extra policing.

Tom Sharratt, vice chairman of the police and community forum, says sending cards is 'unnecessary, expensive and wasteful.'

And he claims the £385 it cost the police authority to send out cards last year should have been used to combat crime.

He asked members of the forum to back his proposals at a meeting at Samlesbury Memorial Hall last week, but he was defeated. Six voted for the motion, seven against it.

Councillor Sharratt said he was disappointed with the decision: "I asked Lancashire Police Authority to abandon its expensive, wasteful, and unnecessary practise of sending out Christmas cards. The money could be used to support the chief constable and her colleagues in their fight against crime."

But Lancashire Police defended their decision not to be humbugs at Christmas.

A spokesperson said: "It costs us £385 to send Christmas cards out of a total budget of £160 million. It is felt that this is a reasonable sum bearing in mind the good it fosters. It enhances good relations in and around the county."

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