COUNCILLORS will now have to dig deep into their own pockets if they want to go on a trip to a Hindu temple in London.

Town hall chiefs today announced that the local authority will not pay for the trip to the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir at Neasden.

The BEN revealed yesterday that it would cost £40 a head for councillors and officials to go along.

But now Cllr Bob Howarth, Bolton Council leader, has intervened and declared that they must pay their own way. He said: "There does seem to have been a genuine misunderstanding yesterday in the local authority.

"It is certainly the view of the leadership of the council that anyone who goes on the trip must make their own arrangements.

"We have a lovely Hindu temple here in Bolton and I would have thought anyone with an interest in Hinduism could find the opportunity to follow it up here.

"But if people do want to go to London, then they must pay for it themselves."

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