An "immediate review" has been called for into a yearly bill of almost £3 million spent on county council employees' travel allowance.

Hertfordshire County Council reimburses its staff for expenses incurred by employees, including the cost of travelling.

Last year staff claimed £2,924,827 in petrol expenses, and £104,593 worth of taxi, bus and train journeys.

Already this year, employees have clocked up £991,973 worth of petrol and £41,067 in public transport and taxi fares.

Stephen Giles-Medhurst, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, said: "This is millions and not thousands we're talking about, those sort of figures require an immediate scrutiny review.

"It's a very surprising figure, almost a shock when you consider mileage is paid at 45p a mile. Three million pounds is an awful lot of miles."

As well as reduced library opening hours and cuts to bus routes across the county, the council also plans an annual saving of a million pounds by turning off the street lights at night.

Councillor Giles-Medhurst added:"These are tough economic times we're going through, with a need to reduce expenditure. We have already made cuts and there is a continuing need to bridge the gap in the budget deficit."

In its "business travel and subsistence policy" the council states it monitors and reports on employees mileage and has set targets to reduce business mileage.

It suggests employees should seek to arrange meetings in similar locations on the same days, to share lifts or to use share public transport It goes on to say that sharing journeys with others "reduces carbon emissions and eases car parking issues".

The council pays 45p a mile up to 10,000 miles and then 25p after that, as agreed with public services union UNISON.

Drivers with a passenger in their cars are given an allowance of 3.17p a mile per passenger, and cyclists 9.98p a mile.

Councillor Giles-Medhurst added: "Some officers such as those in the highways department will have more mileage than others as they have to go on site visits, but equally the county council has some of its own vehicles which could be used.

"We've got to establish what this is being used for and whether we're being over-generous. I want to make sure this is definitely scrutinised."

Simon Hoggett, from the county council, said mileage expenses were based on the ‘Fixed Profit Car Scheme’ set by the Inland Revenue, and had to be approved before reimbursement.

He added: "We are committed to reducing the environmental and financial impacts of our business travel by looking at ways to reduce miles travelled, identifying methods of transport with lower carbon emissions per mile and reducing business travel costs. Between 2008/9 and 2010/11 we reduced our spending in this area by nearly £75,000.

“While we encourage employees to reduce travel expenses through methods such as teleconferencing or car sharing, there are some areas, such as social work, where travelling around the county is an essential part of the job."