County councillors received tax-payer funded allowances of £1.75m in 2016, official figures published by the council show.

The sum is down on the total for 2015-16 when councillors received £1,767,838 compared to £1,744,978 this year.

KCC sparked controversy recently when its members awarded themselves a 15% rise in their allowances - claiming that it brought them level with increases in salaries for public sector workers.

They did so despite an independent panel recommending that they accept a rise of just 1.5%.

The additional 15% will equate to about an extra £200,000 on bills over the next four years.

Of the bill this year, £1,070,775 was for the basic allowance that all members qualify for - £12,805.

Additional allowances paid for those with special responsibility such as cabinet members accounted for £558,383 of the overall sum.

Travel expenses also added to the bill with £106,903 claimed for car use by members on official council business.

However, far less was spent on trains and buses with members claiming £7,598 for public transport.

The Conservative leader Paul Carter was the highest paid receiving a total of £57,280 of which £42,109 was his allowance for leader.

The public taxpayer also funded the use of taxis and official KCC cars by members to the tune of £5,367 - with the former deputy leader Cllr Alex King, who is no longer a member, claiming £ 3370.40.

And the bill for chauffeur driven cars came to £35,749 which was less than the £48,178 last year.