Developers will pay £45,000 to fly Kingston Council officials to a property conference in the French Rivera.

The four-day trip, which in the past has been paid for through taxpayers’ money, will see a delegation from Kingston fly to the MIPIM conference in Cannes on March 14 to promote investment in the borough.

Earlier this week, Kingston Council leader Kevin Davis, who has visited the conference in previous years, defended the trip from criticism that companies behind some of the borough’s biggest and most controversial developments are paying.

The whopping £45,000 bill, released by Kingston Council today, includes almost £7,000 on hotels and an £18,000 exhibition stand.

Roy Thompson, strategic director of place at Kingston Council, said: “Kingston is embracing an exciting future.

“To get the best deal for our borough, we need to seek world class investment and the best way to do this is through being part of MIPIM, the world’s leading property development event.

“We are securing Kingston’s future as a prosperous borough through sensitive growth that’s respectful of our impressive heritage and status as a royal borough.

"In doing this, we can continue to promote Kingston as a great place to live, work, study and invest.”

The Berkeley Group, British Land, USS and CNM Estates are paying for the trip, which in 2015 cost the council £13,000.

CNM Estates, which last year secured planning permission to build four blocks of flats in Tolworth amid fierce protests, and British Land, which has been given approval to bulldoze the Eden Walk Shopping centre and build a new complex.