Councils in London have spent £29.8m refurbishing their offices over three years - including almost £500,000 upgrading toilets at one authority.

A BBC Freedom of Information request found Richmond Council spent the most, with a bill of £3.41m between 2008 and 2010.

Hounslow spent £2.9m, while Bromley spent £2.7m.

Lewisham, Enfield, Hillingdon, Barking and Dagenham, Islington, Ealing and Barnet councils were among the top 10 spenders.

Responding to the figures, Local Government Minister Bob Neill said the "age of vanity makeovers" was over.

"Whilst I recognise the need for councils to maintain their offices to a reasonable standard local authorities must exercise prudence," he said.

"The age of vanity makeovers and excess in local government is over.

"If councils cut out wasteful spending on refurbishments then they can protect frontline services."

Since 2008, councils have spent more than £29,845,200 on their town halls and civic centres.

Collectively, the councils also approved future refurbishment projects worth more than £2m, taking the total to £31,892,200.

Richmond Council, which expects to lose up to 300 jobs by 2014 following the government's spending review, said the refurbishment project began in 2005 and it was "not something entered into lightly or on a whim".

Toilet refurbishments figured prominently on several lists of work.

Enfield spent £491,320 on refurbishing toilets, Hounslow £414,000, Kingston £118,527, Hillingdon £75,000, while by contrast Southwark spent £10,000.

For Redbridge, leaking and overflowing bathrooms were a persistent problem with plumbers being called in 51 times in 2008 and 28 times in 2009.

Richmond Council spent £701,000 redoing the ground floor of its civic centre, £728,000 on the first floor and £1,981,000 on the second and third floors.

The council said it aimed to save £35m per annum by 2014.

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