Birmingham City Council leader Mike Whitby ran up a £3,570 bill for a five-night stay at the luxury Hyatt Regency Hotel during the 2008 Conservative conference – and the entire tab was picked up by taxpayers.

The cost of the top Tory’s suite, expensive meals and alcoholic drinks, was met in full by the council.

The size of the bill has infuriated Labour councillors, who have accused Coun Whitby of wasting public money on a party political event.

Two months ago, Coun Whitby said he could not recall whether the council paid for him to stay at the Hyatt. But today he said that as council leader it was vital for him to attend the policy-shaping conference just months before a General Election.

Details of hiring up to six rooms over the five-day period were obtained by the city’s opposition Labour group leader Sir Albert Bore. He wants Coun Whitby – a wealthy man who owns the Black Country engineering firm Skeldings – to repay the money from his own pocket.

It’s the second time that Coun Whitby has come under fire for using the Hyatt at the council’s expense, even though he lives just three miles away and has the use of a chauffeur-driven car to take him to and from meetings at any time of the day or night.