A survey of local authorities has exposed some of the most expensive non-commercial vehicles on their fleets.

The survey, undertaken by Intelligent Car Leasing, attempted to discover the average vehicle expenditure of 50 of the country's largest councils, however only asked councils to detail their five most expensive vehicles based on RRP.

High value vehicles on council fleets included Bentley Flying Spurs (in Cheshire, the home of the brand), Range Rovers, Jaguar XJs, along with other executive marques, in many cases likely to be official cars used by chief executives and mayors.

Surprises hidden in the data include a Rover 75 V6 with a listed cost of £25,499 in operation with Enfield Council, and a Rover Connoisseur with a cost of £58,319 at Hull Council. Other vehicles include Land Rovers in use with rural councils such as Wiltshire.

The report claims that Hillingdon council is the most frugal, with an average vehicle value of £10,527.00, yet with the request only covering the five most valuable vehicles, it is likely that the true picture is very different. Cost of vehicles purchased used are also not taken into account.

The data collected is unlikely to include many of the vehicles in regular use across councils, such as pool cars, and those used for day to day council business.

The data used to compile the report is available here.

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