Top Tendring councillors and council officers are holding a meeting in a Suffolk hotel to escape the hubbub of the town hall.

The members usually meet at Clacton town hall for free but the away day will cost council tax payers £326.

Councillors are paying for an overnight stay, a combined total of £800, and meals out of their own pockets.

Tendring Council leader David Lines said the conference at Sudbury's Mill Hotel will provide quality time without distractions.

"I think, when we look back at £326 when we are trying to attract investment running into hundreds of millions of pounds it will not seem unreasonable," he said.

"We decided to book a suitable venue at modest expense for a full working day well away from the hubbub of the town hall.

"We realise it is public money but it is not unusual in any big organisation.

"Essex County Council does it on a regular basis although I do not know if they pay for their own rooms."

Opposition leader Neil Stock believes it has been arranged to heal discontent in the cabinet, made up of Tendring First, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Independent councillors.

Mr Stock said: "I'm not going to attack them for having an away day, that is something cabinets do from time to time.

"I welcome anything that takes the council forward."

Mr Lines responded: "If you were a fly on the wall you would see the cabinet laughing and joking and working very hard to get things done.

"If we are throwing glasses at each other I will be the first to tell you."

Cabinet members, chief executive John Hawkins, deputy chief executive Roy Coulter and assisant chief executive Roger Stewart, will discuss the new corporate strategy for Tendring, which sets out what the council wants to achieve, at Wednesday's meeting.