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The waistlines of Cookstown councillors must be much slimmer than those of their Dungannon counterparts, if the amount both councils have spent in the last three years on tea, coffee, biscuits and sandwiches is anything to go by.

The cost of hospitality at meetings and civic receptions held by Cookstown District Council over the last three years to taxpayers was £13,134.

But the total spend in Cookstown is not even 40% of the £33,398 forked out under the cost code for “civic events/hospitality” in Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council, according to two Freedom of Information requests submitted by this newspaper.

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The figures provided outline a massive difference between the two districts, but year-on-year the spend at each council has remained roughly the same.

In 2011/12 Dungannon spent £10,926 on items such as tea, coffee, milk, sugar, biscuits and sandwiches - though it is unclear whether this figure also included bottled water.

Dungannon’s outlay that year, however, was a massive 330% greater than the £3,310 spent in Cookstown, which when broken down, showed that £2,514 went on civic events with a further £796 paid for refreshments at council meetings.

During 2012/13 Dungannon (£11,100) again outspent Cookstown by 180% - a huge percentage drop on the previous year due greater expenditure in Cookstown (£6,136) with £5,231 paid out for civic events.

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In the most recent financial year Cookstown’s outlay on hospitality decreased to £3,688 - 308% less than Dungannon’s £11,372 expense - with £2,845 going on civic events and awards and £843 on meetings.

A representative for Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council was quick to point out that in 1999 the council adopted a policy that only fair trade tea, coffee and sugar be used in council buildings, and that the supply of sandwiches “is strictly controlled” and only occurs when a meeting runs over.

Cookstown District Council, by their own admission hold no policy on fair-trade items, but they did outline in their reply to our FOI that they only offer jugs of tap water at council meetings.