A Tory-led council is using Youtube to save local taxpayers' money - to decidedly mixed acclaim.
Tory-led Hammersmith and Fulham posted a 60-second film with a cover version of Down Down - an old Status Quo track harking back to 1975 - to announce its second 3% council tax cut in a row.
A spokesman for the council said it was trying to 'box clever' to find the cheapest ways to communicate with the local public.
Ironically, these very savings - including cutting the number of press officers and ending the council's relationship with glossy brochures - have contributed to council tax cuts which will be the envy of local taxpayers up and down the country.
A council spokesman said the film had proved to be value for money. "It cost us £500, which is half the cost of a quarter page in the local paper. We have already reached more people than through a newspaper advert."
Our man in west London must be referring to the coverage in today's Evening Standard, which alerted us to the film. The headline rather accurately reads: "Tories boast of tax cuts with worst ever YouTube pop video."
"Did you like it?" asked the excited press officer. "Yes", I lied. It felt churlish to point out that resorting to Status Quo isn't most people's idea of sexing up local government. But hey, it's a start.
The council believes it is the first local authority in the country to use YouTube as part of its media strategy. Some may argue the bar has been set rather low.
