A LITTLE bit of TV glitz and glamour came to the Brunel Swindon Shopping Centre yesterday as an unlikely way of explaining council tax.

Leader of Swindon Borough Council David Renard along with communications officer Tom Haworth – really channelling Bruce Forsyth in a gold lamé waistcoat and loud tie – were engaging shoppers in a game of Play Your Cards Right.

Like the ITV show hosted by Brucie, punters were asked to guess whether the next card was higher or lower – but the reasoning was the different parts of the council budget.

It emerged that by far the highest figure for spending by the council is on caring for older people and adults with special needs – taking £480 out of every £1,000 of council tax received.

Combined with £275 spent on children and vulnerable young people and £31 on supporting young people that adds up to 78.6 per cent of the authority’s council tax income.

One of the surprising figures is that £5 out of every £1,000 is spent on maintaining the roads.

Contestant Ryan Walker, 23, who works as a social media executive said: “I thought it might be quite low because there are quite a lot of potholes, but I was a bit surprised. I think they should probably spend more.

“I didn’t know that much was spent on adult care, though.

“This is a useful way of finding out how your council tax is spent.”

Coun Renard said: “It’s a bit of fun, but there’s a serious point. We want people to understand how their council tax is spent and where.

“I get a lot of complaints that it’s too high, even though we are one of the lower tax authorities, but the majority of it is spent on almost invisible services such as adults social care and social services, which most people don’t see.”

Theresa Hardman, 52, said: “I thought I’d have a go. I think it’s a good way of showing what the council’s doing. I think more should be spent on people with disabilities.”