LIVERPOOL Council bosses are to hire a "spin doctor" for £90,000 a year.

The person who gets the full-time job will be expected to "ensure that the Mayor’s actions and decisions are engaging, transparent and efficiently communicated to the public".

Opposition leaders have said the decision was "ludicrous", and made a mockery of the council’s hardship claims.

But the council insisted the role was about more than dealing with the media, and about internal and customer relations.

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Cllr Tom Morrison said: "Joe Anderson keeps saying that ‘people could die’ because of the cuts that are being made, yet he sees fit to spend £90,000 of taxpayers’ money on a spin doctor.

"Each Sure Start centre costs about £100,000-a-year to keep open. The question when the council proposes to close another one will be whether the council would rather have someone to make Joe Anderson look good, rather than a place where parents can take their children."

The successful candidate will earn more than Mayor Anderson’s own salary of £66,000, after he waived his right to the recommended £79,500.

City bosses blasted their opponents as "hypocrites" and said none of them had complained about the move at the meeting when it was agreed.