North Yorkshire Council urged to use its loaf over sandwiches

A meeting at County Hall in Northallerton heard sandwiches were delivered twice a week from an industrial estate south of Bradford

A row has broken out over sandwiches being delivered to a council's headquarters from more than 50 miles away in a neighbouring county.

A company in Bradford, West Yorkshire, delivers sandwiches to County Hall in Northallerton twice a week.

North Yorkshire Council, which aims to be carbon neutral by 2030, rejected calls to source a local supplier.

Executive member for finance, Gareth Dadd, said there were more pressing issues to be dealt with.

Leaders from three parties - Greens, Liberal Democrats and Independents - all criticised the policy of bringing food in from West Yorkshire.

Councillor Gareth Dadd said he had "better things to do" than making demands about where the council sources sandwiches

Independent leader Stuart Parsons said while there could be questions over value for money, he did not believe having sandwiches delivered from West Yorkshire met the authority's carbon-cutting or buy local policies.

He said: "I'm convinced that not too far away from County Hall will be somebody who can make and supply sandwiches, thereby cutting the carbon footprint and support the very local economy that needs it."

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Mr Parsons had been supported by Liberal Democrat group leader Bryn Griffiths, who said: "In my experience there are a number of good retail outlets on Northallerton High Street who make excellent sandwiches."

'Incredulous'

Meanwhile, Kevin Foster, the Green Party leader, told a scrutiny committee meeting at County Hall his group had been set to lodge a motion before all the authority's members, to stop sandwiches being brought in from Bradford, for some of the 600-strong workforce.

He said: "It would be better if it was a local firm for a number of reasons."

Mr Dadd said he did not believe the supplier was travelling from Bradford to only deliver sandwiches to the canteen at County Hall.

He said: "Bradford is just a hop, skip over the border, still in Yorkshire. Where does Councillor Parsons buy his bread from? I bet a penny to a pound it won't be made in North Yorkshire.

"The council has a £1.4bn budget and I have better things to do than start making demands about where we source sandwiches from."

Mr Dadd said he was "incredulous" that the council had "stooped to this level about where sandwiches come from".

"If Councillor Parsons really wants to help the authority and his residents he should be offering sensible ideas for budget savings and efficiencies," he said.