THIS new bus stop will keep people dry down a busy Worcester road - as calls were made to beef up a novel council project to fund worthy causes.

The £3,000 shelter was erected in Brickfields Road by Councillor Paul Denham, a Labour veteran.

All 57 politicians at Worcestershire County Council get £10,000 a year to spend on worthy projects in their area, costing taxpayers £570,000.

The only caveat is that each spend should be signed off by a senior officer, and be published on a register available for the public to inspect.

The scheme, known as the councillors' divisional fund, has been such a success since it launched three years ago that other town halls are now considering launching similar projects.

Suggestions are being made to extend the scheme as a way of making up for cuts in council funding.

Cllr Denham said: "I do think the divisional fund is a good scheme because when it comes to their area, nobody knows better than the local councillor.

"But the amount of cash is very limited. With the generalised cuts, when officers get approached they often say 'contact your local councillor' but it doesn't go that far.

"This bus shelter has been requested by residents for some considerable time, a number of people told me they were fed up of getting wet so I was pleased to help."

Councillors have huge discretion over how to spend the cash - they can even use it to top up their area's highways spend.

Only 10 per cent of the fund can be carried over to the following financial year, which means they are under pressure to get as close as possible to using it all up.

In recent months some of the other spending includes:

- £1,000 from Councillor Rob Adams towards funding an Olympic games legacy event in Norton

- £2,000 from Councillor Pat Agar to fund volunteer-led drop-in advice clinics for domestic and sexual violence victims in Worcester

- £9,500 from the Mayor of Worcester Councillor Alan Amos for a zebra crossing across Windermere Drive by Sainsbury's

- £1,250 by Councillor Sue Askin to Perdiswell Young People's Leisure Club to fund extra activities for school-age children

- £4,839 by Councillor Simon Geraghty, the county council's deputy leader, on footway improvements to Albany Terrace, near the Upper Tything in Worcester

- £3,00 by Councillor Derek Prodger towards afternoon tea and singing sessions for pensioners in St John's