YORK taxpayers picked up an £11,000 bill after council chiefs took nearly a year to buy a car.

The cash was spent on hiring limousines for the city's Lord Mayor after the former civic vehicle was taken out of service in March last year.

A new car was not available until February this year.

The expenditure was revealed as City of York Council leader Rod Hills met officers today to hear a budgets report. Councillor Hills was hearing how thousands of pounds was saved elsewhere, including a £19,000 underspend on activities celebrating the Millennium.

But he was also to hear about losses including that incurred for the car.

A council spokeswoman said replacement of the Mayoral limo took so long because supplying the new car had to go out to tender, and then it needed work to "stretch" it so that the mayoral party of six could fit inside.

Weeks were also spent test-driving cars, including an undertaker's hearse, to ensure the best choice was made.

The council spokeswoman said: "About two years ago we started looking at alternatives for the mayoral car and considering what type of vehicle it would be. We consulted people and began the process of tendering.

"While this process was being carried out, the car became very unreliable and we decided that it wasn't worth repairing because it could cost thousands of pounds and it would still be unreliable.

"We thought the new car would be just around the corner butthe process of consulting and putting it out to tender took a lot longer than expected."

Updated: 11:45 Tuesday, July 03, 2001