THE head of Teesdale District Council has dismissed claims that a £20,000 Government-funded training trip to the Lake District is nothing but a junket.

The allegation was made in an anonymous note left at the D&S Times office, which claimed to be from "someone in the council who can't stand it any longer."

It put the cost of chief executive Charles Anderson and his managers' stay at a Lake District hotel for three days at £1,000 per head, saying "Another TDC junket, beer all day and beer all night. Is that good value for the people of Teesdale? Even if it doesn't come from council tax, it is still our taxes."

But Mr Anderson denied any waste of taxpayers' money and has no reservations about taking the 17 staff to the three-star hotel at Kendal for the Impact leadership development programme.

"This is part of our recovery process and has been fully funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister," he said. "We had no choice about location, it was presented to us as a fait accompli.

"Our CPA report identified some weaknesses in management skills. Far from apologising for being involved in this event, I would say it is money well spent. The fact that there is no impact on the public purse is a bonus."

The council's human resources manager, Denise Curtis-Haigh, said the leadership course had been specially designed for senior and middle management personnel.

"We have been looking at ways of developing staff skills without using the financial resources of the council," she said. "It is quite a coup for us to get external funding."

Run by Leeds-based consultants Gatenby-Sanderson, the course will also be attended by staff from three other local authorities - Castle Morpeth, South Tyneside and North Tyneside.

Their venue will be the Castle Green Hotel, which boasts a swimming pool and leisure centre. Its conference facilities include a rope challenge course designed to encourage teamwork, personal development and leadership.

Other team-building activities include paintballing, quad biking, archery and clay shooting.

Seven Teesdale staff will go from May 25-27, and another seven from June 20-22. Four senior officials, including Mr Anderson, will attend both residential courses.