CASH-strapped Worcestershire County Council is looking at splashing out £160,000 on a new IT cooling system.

At a time when more than 1,000 jobs are about to go at County Hall and services are under threat, the proposal has attracted criticism.

The Conservative administration has defended the project, saying the system will save the council about £35,000 annually – effectively paying for itself within five years – as well as reducing annual carbon dioxide emissions by 225 tonnes.

We previously reported that the council is trying to save up to £70 million by 2015. Adrian Gregson, Unison Worcestershire branch secretary, said: “The council really shouldn’t be spending that money when all of these cuts are going on.

“It appears to represent the typical mentality at County Hall where there are cuts in one department while another spends.

"We might reap the rewards in five years’ time but we are losing jobs now and that’s what most people are worried about.”

The council’s Labour leader Councillor Peter McDonald said the money would be better spent on subsidising bus services under threat.

“What wants cooling down is the council’s programme of cutbacks,” he said.

After hearing of its cash and carbon savings, the council’s Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Liz Tucker said she could not call it a bad idea, but was annoyed she only found out about the project after being contacted by your Worcester News.

As a result, she wants a more transparent system to review all spend to save programmes.

She said: “We are in difficult times. Anything that cuts the revenue budget has got to be good, but when you are spending as much as £160,000 we have got to be sure it cuts it fastest.”

If the application, which has been submitted to Worcester City Council’s planning department, is approved the existing chilled water cooling units will be replaced by four new evaporative cooling units outside the building.

The system would use large quantities of fresh air and a small amount of water to cool the council’s IT equipment, which requires cooling all day every day.

Documents suggest the system would use less than one tenth of the electricity used by the current cooling units.

The new system would be installed near one of the entrances to County Hall and covered by a feature wall of louvres, or slats, which allow air to circulate while operational and maintenance work can also be carried out.

Councillor Stephen Clee, cabinet member for corporate services, said: “Not only will it save the council money, but it will also significantly cut our CO2 output.”