A TOWN council could “gamble” public money by putting it into corporate bonds.

Halstead Town Council is considering investing in companies like Unilever and Angilan Water.

However, some councillors have warned that as “custodians of the public’s money”, they should not “gamble”.

The authority’s finance and general purposes committee was given a presentation by Kevin Nolan, a stockbroker and financial adviser from Edward Jones, based in Halstead’s High Street.

Mr Nolan said cash could be withdrawn at any point, but added: “There’s a small element of risk.”

Councillor Jackie Pell said: “If the company goes bust, we lose everything.

“We’re the custodians of the public’s money and we just can’t gamble.”

At present, the council has money in four banks and one building society. The authority said it has not considered an amount to put into corporate bonds. Michael Gage, committee chairman, said councillors should think about bonds instead of banks, which “give us next to nothing”.

The committee will give bonds more thought, and consult the full council.