COLCHESTER Council spent nearly £20,000 on coronation celebrations in the city, figures show.

The final figure comes after a report by the openDemocracy website found Colchester Council responded to requests for information to plan for a spend of £30,000.

Of 382 councils in the UK that openDemocracy contacted, 289 provided a response.

Gazette: Packed - hundreds turned out to the picnic in the Castle ParkPacked - hundreds turned out to the picnic in the Castle Park (Image: Steve Brading)

In Colchester, hundreds turned out at Castle Park on Saturday for the coronation picnic, and the events organised throughout the day all came together as planned.

The Colchester City Pipes and Drums also performed Castle Park bandstand, refurbished last year for the Queen’s jubilee.

The money allocated by Colchester Council went towards several things.

Gazette: Steady beat – Colchester City Pipes and Drums played plenty of favourites after the gun saluteSteady beat – Colchester City Pipes and Drums played plenty of favourites after the gun salute (Image: Steve Brading)

These included security, first aid and paramedics, extra litter picking and toilet cleaning, a music band and generators.

Payments also went to additional staff costs, a photographer and as a contribution to the Mercury Theatre event.

The council also revealed a coronation plaque is set to be put up on a civic building soon.

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A spokesperson for Colchester Council said: “The coronation was a wonderful opportunity for people to come together and celebrate a milestone in our nation’s history.

“A sum of £30,000 was allocated by the Cabinet to deliver a programme of Coronation celebrations and legacy projects across the city.

“However, not all of this funding has been utilised and we anticipate the final cost to be under £20,000.

“The coronation picnic in the park was a great success that we hope will have created some wonderful memories of this historic occasion during Colchester’s Year of Celebration.”

Elsewhere in Essex, Tendring budgeted £9,600, with Braintree and Maldon councils spending nothing.

Gazette: Royal visit - King Charles III met with crowds outside Colchester CastleRoyal visit - King Charles III met with crowds outside Colchester Castle (Image: Steve Brading)

In south Essex, Rochford Council planned for £20,000 and Southend spent nothing. Castle Point, however, did not respond to the request.

It comes after it was revealed in April the previous royal visit to Colchester from the King and Queen Consort cost the taxpayer almost £6,000.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed the total cost of the King’s trip last month was £5,928.50.

The FOI has revealed most of the money spent to facilitate the day was for parking restriction costs and pedestrian barriers for Colchester High Street.

Money also went towards first aid, catering, photography, hand-waving flags and other unspecified gifts.