HAMBLETON District Council has defended its decision to use £33,000 to replace vehicles after a councillor demanded to know why it was not being used for street cleaning.
Councillor John Coulson raised the issue this week with the authority's environmental health and housing committee.
The surplus cash has been generated over a number of years by a street cleaning contract which has come to an end.
Coun Coulson said he could not understand why the cash had been put into a vehicle replacement fund when he had received numerous complaints about the state of Northallerton's streets.
Phil Morton, deputy chief executive at the council, said the money would be used for replacing such vehicles as street sweepers.
He said: "Ultimately, the council will save money by buying these vehicles, as it is cheaper than leasing them."
After the meeting, Mr Morton said the council had bought a street sweeper at a cost of about £50,000
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