Councillors will get iPads at a cost of £20,000.

Worthing and Adur councils suggested the move for all their elected members as part of plans to go “paper-free”.

It claims giving politicians the hand-held gadgets, which can be used to read documents and watch videos, will save money and be more environmentally-friendly.

The plan was ratified at a meeting of full council, with Worthing Borough Council leader Paul Yallop among those to trial it.

It is expected to be rolled out in February.

Worthing borough councillor Michael Cloake said: “We are living in a technological world and the benefits of not being left behind far outweigh the short-term capital outlay in favour of significant savings, reduction in ongoing costs and, not least, reducing the council’s environmental impact.”

Coun Cloake said a similar move in Scarborough, which is a similar size to Worthing, had saved £62,500 in less than a year.

He added further money would be saved on costs of office space.

When the plans were revealed earlier this year, council bosses said a laptop with a case would cost £450 compared to £290 for an iPad.

This will increase to £320 if it is the more up to date iPad3, the latest model to be released by Apple.

It claimed the maximum cost will be about £27,000 for both councils combined.

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