COUNCIL chiefs have been branded ‘wasteful’ after hiring a PR agency to bring tourists into the city.

Fido PR, based in Manchester, have been hired to work alongside the council's marketing department in a six-month campaign that will focus on sport and leisure, heritage, food and drink and arts and culture.

The firm will work on the council's VisitSalford campaign, which brings six million tourists into the city in an industry worth £277m.

Neither Fido PR or Salford City Council were able to confirm the cost of the deal, but it could run into thousands of pounds, a sum that opposition leaders have branded ‘wasteful’.

One Manchester-based PR agency has estimated the cost could be as high as £25,000.

Paul Smith, from Citypress PR, said: "It depends on the brief for how much coverage they want but some PR companies can charge around £700 a day.

"Depending on how many days work you think it will take, a job like this could cost around £25,000."

Opposition councillors say that the council should be using their own in-house team to entice people to the city, rather than splashing out on an external company.

Councillor Karen Garrido, leader of the Salford Conservatives and a member of the council's budget scrutiny committee, said: "I agree that we should concentrate on getting people into Salford but I think the council's own PR team should concentrate on what they are supposed to be doing.

"It is the first I had heard of it and I would like to know how much this is costing the taxpayer.

"The council are supposed to be saving taxpayers' money, not spending it on external agencies."

The move was also criticised by Liberal Democrat leader Norman Owen.

He said: "The council have employed people specifically to do this job - to promote the city. If they have to hire another firm to do this, it begs the question that maybe our staff aren't good enough."

But council bosses have defended employing the firm, claiming it is the most cost effective way of bringing tourism into Salford.

Council leader John Merry said: "I don't think it is a waste of money because we will end up bringing extra resources into the city. The tourism industry is worth a lot of money to the city and I think it is important that we embrace this.

"The money is also part of an existing budget - we are not spending any more money on this than we would already."

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