COUNCILS have been urged to ban full-time union officials funded by taxpayers – condemned by one Cabinet minister as the "last closed shop".

Campaign groups have claimed there are more than 800 union officials working in local authorities, one third of the total number of public sector staff working for trade unions.

In his conference speech, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles vowed to get tough on so-called "pilgrims", branding the practice a "non-job" costing taxpayers a cool £250m a year.

And he said: "That's money taken away from frontline services. Guess what – you won't find Labour criticising them. Silence from Ed Miliband.

"If unions want to raise money for Labour, do it in your own time – not on the rates. We're going to call time on this last closed shop."

However, Mr Pickles's aides admitted they currently had no power to ban town halls from paying union officials. The Government will consult on plans to end the practice, or reduce it to a "reasonable level".

But Alex Knutsen, a representative for the public-sector union Unison, warned the Government's plans would "bring industrial relations crashing down". He said the union's town hall presence saved money for taxpayers by limiting the number of employment tribunals.