Ananova:

A council fired its tea lady then hired £200-a-day consultants - to tell staff how to make a brew.

Jill Melvin, 46, was sacked from her £8,000-a-year post at the Tory-run council in March.

Since then staff have been without a trolley service and have to negotiate stairs and fire doors with hot tea on their return from a self-service machine.

Some workers ended up injuring themselves. One scalded a hand while brewing up. Another broke a wrist.

Bosses at East Herts Council's offices in Bishop's Stortford so called in experts to advise on health and safety at the cost of £200-a-day.

The 150 staff were asked how accidents could be reduced and told bosses to bring back the tea lady reports The Sun.

Jane Sharp from Unison said: "Hiring the consultants was a complete waste of taxpayers' money. I would have thought it's obvious what the risks of carrying tea are.

"They should never have made Jill redundant. She was more than a tea lady. Jill organised conferences, made buffets and helped in all sorts of ways. Her warmth lightened the place up."

A council spokesman said: "We've spent £200 in one day reducing the chances of an accident. We could have saved the £200 and risked a payout of thousands if someone had been hurt.

"We think very carefully about where we spend our budget and our sensible approach has been praised by our auditors as the best in Hertfordshire."