Elmbridge Council has been accused of “self-aggrandisment” and using tax payers’ money poorly, after spending more than £2,000 on 10 signs telling residents they live in a “brighter, greener borough”.

Last year, the Conservative-run council set aside £14,000 of its budget to plant bulbs, trees and holly bushes - but £2,619.26 of this was used to make and install the signs placed at verges where new daffodil bulbs have been planted.

Lib Dem Councillor Steve Wells said: “The cost of the signs represents about 20 per cent of the budget. This is poor value for money when you look at the art work on the signs.

“It’s ridiculous and would have been better spent on 25,000 more bulbs. Ironically, this would have been a lot greener.

“It’s vacuous self-aggrandisment by the Tories to say this is a greener borough.”

Tory Councillor Jan Fuller, portfolio holder for culture and leisure, said the signs were a “one off spend” and had only cost each Elmbridge resident 2p.

She said: “Last autumn we planted 17,000 daffodil bulbs, 57 trees and 15,000 holly bushes. We’re proud of doing the extra planting and we know the residents like it. We wanted to show them where we had planted them.

“Coun Wells is entitled to his opinions, but saying it is self-aggrandisment is getting carried away.

"The cost of the signs was not very much of the budget and there is nothing on them saying it’s a Conservative scheme.

"We did send out an information bulletin to councillors at the time the decision was made and nobody objected then.”

She also said the signs would enable residents planting their own bulbs to distinguish verges the council had already used.

It was revealed at a full council meeting on Wednesday, April 23, that there was currently a “war between crocuses and daffodils” on one grass verge in Claygate, because the council had not known residents had already planted on the land.