MORE details have been revealed about the internet spending of Essex County Council to try and promote its services.

It has been reported that the council spent £15,000 on a Facebook page which had fewer than 200 followers.

Essex County Council's social media campaigns costing more than £500,000 "did not represent value for money", a report said.

The money went to a digital creator and "internet prankster" Simon Harris, who said he was not given a chance to respond to the findings.

The council said it could not comment ahead of a meeting to consider the report.

A number of what were described as Facebook "groups" were highlighted in the draft report from the council's audit, governance and standards committee:

• "This is Your Life" cost £70,000, but "garnered only 1,300 links and 1,500 followers"
• "Never Too Late Mate" attracted 6,100 likes and 6,900 followers costing £15,000, but had "minimal engagement in the last two years"
• "Essex is Smoke Free" had just 174 followers despite a payment of £5,000
• "Essex Supports Veterans"' with 189 followers had "almost no engagement, and has incurred expenses of £15,100"

Labour councillor Aidan McGurran described the payments as

Labour committee member Aidan McGurran described the level of engagement for these pages as "utterly woeful", adding: "The whole thing was a shocking waste of money with appalling governance around it."