CALLS are being made for Worcestershire’s Lord Lieutenant to have his council funds withdrawn – with politicians saying it “cannot be justified” amid the cuts.

The county council’s Labour group says with £98 million needing to be slashed off spending by 2017, the authority should stop funding Colonel Patrick Holcroft in his duties as the Queen’s ceremonial representative in Worcestershire.

County Hall reserves a yearly budget of £25,000 for Lt Col Holcroft, but has a policy to carry on paying for his duties even if he goes over that sum.

Now, the opposition Labour group wants the council’s leadership to withdraw the budget and ask him to fund his own activities.

Councillor Richard Udall said: “With new cuts being imposed by the government and the local Tory administration, which will have a devastating impact on local people, we can no longer afford such luxuries as a Lord Lieutenant on the payroll.

“The Lord Lieutenant is a voluntary position and one which is normally only available to a few privileged people in society.

“The council can no longer continue to protect this service when it is intent on slashing and cutting everything else.

“The Lord Lieutenant himself should realise the days of financial support must come to an end.

“He should agree to pay for his own support.”

The plea has been rejected by the Conservative cabinet, which says the general public do not see it as a priority.

Some of the proposals for saving £98 million include chopping funding for 88 bus services, turning off street lights at night, and reducing at-home care visits for the vulnerable.

But council leader Coun Adrian Hardman said: “If Coun Udall wishes to query this budget he should raise this as a notice of motion at a full council meeting, or seek to amend through a budget amendment at full council in February.

“It is worth remembering that despite Coun Udall’s spin this is not pay, but the cost of arranging the many royal visits which are so popular with the majority of Worcestershire people.

“We are lucky to have such an able man in the role, as was seen by the Prince of Wales’s visit to the service at Sixways for the Mercian Regiment, which went without a hitch.

“This is an issue for the council to respond to, not for the Lord Lieutenant himself.”

Lt Col Holcroft, who was appointed by the Queen on the Prime Minister’s recommendation last Dec-ember, served 19 years with the Grenadier Guards.

His ultimate role is to represent her majesty in Worcestershire, but it also includes arranging visits from the royal family, presenting honours and awards to community groups and supporting charities.

The Lord Lieutenant was not available for comment.