HERE are the mobile phone bills - paid for by tax payers - of Warrington borough councillors for the past three years. The Warrington Guardian obtained the bills under the Freedom of Information Act. They reveal Labour councillors' heavy use of their phones compared with that of Lib Dem and Conservative members.

The five councillors with the biggest phone bills:

1. Clr John Kerr-Brown (Lab), Poplars and Hulme, £1,103, said: "The explanation is pretty clear - it's the fact that my phone is a private line and the bill includes the line rental. The others don't include the line rental.

"That's probably about £20 to £25 a month. Also, the majority of my phone calls to constituents are mobile to mobile as I represent one of the inner wards.

"If you take out the line rental the bill is comparable with that of other inner ward councillors."

2. Pat Wright (Lab), Bewsey and Whitecross, £1,020, was unavailable for comment.

3. Clr Mike Hannon (Lab), Orford, £684, said: "It's the volume of work coming on from our constituents. On a day-to-day basis we like to try to deal with things as quickly as possible.

"I try to use the landline as much as possible but the mobile is a valuable tool to deal with complaints."

4. Clr Colin Froggart (Lab), Poulton South, £646, said: "You have got to put it in context. I was in employment and I was not working in Warrington so I used my mobile phone so I didn't have to use my company phone.

"You will also find the amount has dropped since I lost my position on the executive board."

5. Clr Jeff Richards (Lab), Bewsey and Whitecross, £541, said: "What I can guarantee you is that any calls on the phone are council related because I have two private phones.

"It's a busy ward and the majority of people don't have landlines but have mobile phones."

And those with the lowest bills:

1. Clr George Warburton (Lab), Penketh, £3.50 over three years, said: "I never use it. I think they are overused. I just treat life as I treated it years ago.

"I won't use mobiles for the sake of using them. I am sure people use them for frivolous things."

2. Clr Les Hoyle (Con), Culcheth, £8 over two years, said: "I use my own phone quite a bit, and the wife goes a bit mad about that. But it's whatever is to hand at the time. It's not that I am particularly careful, it's just I use my own phone quite a bit and I go out and meet people and send e-mails."

3. Clr Celia Jordan (LD), Stockton Heath, £11 over two years, said: "I tend to use my own private mobile phone as it's more convenient, and I don't claim anything for that, it's just one of those things. I'm certainly getting into the Blackberry now, it's one of the easier ways to keep in touch."

4. Clr David Earl (LD), Westbrook, £9 over two years, said: "I use it mainly for incoming calls and for emergencies. The council provides us with a landline on broadband and it costs nothing after 6pm so I also use that."

5. Clr Judith Wheeler, (LD), Whittle Hall, £12 over two years, said: "I make phone calls from home at night or use e-mail (through Blackberry) a lot. I hate mobile phones generally. I can use Blackberry for e-mails anywhere, anytime."