The cost of Wandsworth councillors reaching for a platter of nibbles during committee sessions has turned out to be higher than thought, with the Town Hall kitchens eating up £10,000 of taxpayers' money each month.

And politicians and staff were left choking on their sandwiches last week following news that the private company they hired to provide staff catering has gone into liquidation.

Wandsworth Council was planning to pursue Hudson Rowe Catering Services through the courts for what it said was a breach of the five-year contract it won in 1998, but now the firm won't be able to pay a penny back.

Since January 2001, Wandsworth has been trying to manage without the company which took its stock and equipment with it - leaving the council's in-house catering team with "substantial financial losses" when it had to replace all the culinary gear.

The council said it also found staff were reluctant to go near its canteen fare following the debacle because, during Hudson Rowe's time in charge, there were two incidents which "severely dented customer confidence".

One incident ended with the company being formally cautioned for serving undercooked chicken at a buffet. However, the council said the in-house team was now trying to convince diners "that food safety and hygiene are of paramount importance".

Wandsworth has taken legal advice but with Hudson Rowe's parent company in administration, lawyers have told the council there is no point in trying to recover its costs.

The council wanted the losses to remain secret for reasons of commercial confidentiality, and intends to subsidise the service with a £50,000 budget variation.

One politician predicted that no private firm would want to touch the contract "with a bargepole" unless the subsidies remained in place.

July 8, 2002 10:00