Tablets are being issued to Allerdale councillors in a bid to save taxpayers thousands of pounds.

Allerdale council spends an average of £5,000 a year to print and post meeting agendas to its 56 councillors.

But now it wants to cut that cost by issuing tablets to each member.

A council spokesman said: "The use of tablets has been successfully tested with the audit committee and so we are rolling it out for all councillors to provide a number of benefits.

"Tablets will mean that councillors will have access to the latest version of agenda as soon as it is published, rather than waiting for them to be printed and posted. They are more portable than laptops and users are able to annotate agendas and documents online and save these notes electronically.

"Councillors will also have quick and easy access to their emails and other Allerdale applications and it will save the council money on printing costs for agendas. This is all part of the council's aim to deliver better services for less and allows us to make the best use of digital technology."

The one-off cost for providing the tablets is of £10,000.