Councils' numerous assets bring in vital income

Meanwhile, Telford & Wrekin Council owns 28 car parks, 30 shops, six swimming pools/leisure centres, four pubs, three shopping centres, two farms, and one golf course, theatre and ice rink.

The assets were revealed by pressure group The Taxpayers' Alliance.

It found that other authorities owned portfolios including hotels, nightclubs, pigeon lofts and even a cheese factory.

Jonathan Isaby, TaxPayers' Alliance chief executive, said: "What possible business does a council have owning a nightclub?

"It looks deeply hypocritical for councils to plead poverty as an excuse for hiking council tax when they've got such a huge asset portfolio.

"Local authorities should be focussed on essential services. The time has come for a serious discussion on what councils should, and should not, be doing – a drastic rethink which saw many of these assets returned to the private sector where some of them clearly belong would be a dramatic step towards a balanced budget and protecting taxpayers."

But Emily Knightley, a spokeswoman for Telford &Wrekin Council, said the council's properties were an important part of its annual income.

"The assets owned by Telford & Wrekin Council are an essential part of the borough," she said.

"They contribute to providing an income to the council and any sale of these would bring in a one-time windfall which in the long-term would not help to stop cuts to services.

"The money raised can be used to fund essential services in the borough. For example, our solar farm will earn £150,000 a year for its 25-year lifespan, which will be used to fund the council's frontline services."

Shropshire Council did not wish to comment on the report.

But a Local Government Association spokesman dismissed the report's findings and said councils "are constantly reviewing their estates" to ensure value for money for local taxpayers.

"This is yet another misleading report from the Taxpayers' Alliance," the spokesman said.

As of April last year, councils across the UK owned at least 580 restaurants or cafes – with Brighton and Hove Council alone possessing 59.

There were also 378 pubs on the books, 174 hotels, 259 theatres, 2,586 farms, and 407 golf courses. Among the more unusual assets listed was a cheese factory owned by Dumfries and Galloway Council.