Council finances are usually an uninteresting topic – until you get your council tax bill.

A brief look through Dorchester town council's most recent payments list provides some quirky items and also illustrates the breadth of council services in the county town.

Among the payments are £34 for plastic champagne flutes, £10 for tent pegs, £942 for the council's newsletter distribution, £304 on a glue gun, £1,276 for bedding plants, £1,728 to Dorchester Business Improvement District listed as being for the town app' and shop watch radio, £3,550 for human resources insurance, £1,020 for an annual outdoor inspection, a £1,000 donation for work at the Roman Town House, £3,392 for a shower system, £34,167 for pay, although another amount of £35,191 is also listed for 'payroll' later in the list and £12,647 for the local government pension scheme, £26,411 for rates, £407 for descaler, £527 for hose parts, £111.82 for cranked hooks, £5,759 for sweeping the Walks, £580 for 'gloves, grease, trousers', £3,600 for table tennis, £1,500 for the Victorian Fair; £49 for umbrellas, £1,448 for 'eviction of travellers', £22,197 for retractable seating, £2,295 for grass cutting, £1,764 for dog gloves.