Planting five trees normally found in balmy Mediterranean groves cost has cost Lambeth almost £9,000, whilst ongoing 'maintenance' will cost almost £1400 more per year.
Former Clapham councillor and current deputy chairman of the Vauxhall Conservative Association, Bernard Gentry, commented:
“This is an extravagant waste of taxpayers’ money on a vanity project. At a time when hard-working families are having to tighten their belts and Lambeth council pleads poverty, it spends £9,000 on buying and planting five trees. Why not just plant five saplings as are being planted across London? They look just as good at a fraction of the price. We are truly back in the days of loony Lambeth".