The party is over for Birmingham's political elite, who have been told they can no longer drink alcohol at the council taxpayer's expense.

Meetings of city councillors will be limited in future to sandwiches, biscuits, tea and coffee, with the bill not to exceed £15 per head.

If councillors want something stronger in the future, they will have to pay for it themselves.

The ruling follows a review of the £189,000 annual bill for members' services.

Leaders of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, which assumed control of the council 11 months ago, were surprised to discover no hard and fast rules about meals and drink.

New regulations governing pre-council meetings of political groups and the day-to-day activities of cabinet members and chairmen of committees were approved yesterday.

A report by chief legal officer Mirza Ahmad warned that budgets should not be used to order alcohol.

The report added: " Refreshments up to £15 per head should only be ordered where they are strictly necessary for meetings and only if the budget holder is satisfied that there is money within the budget."

The council decided against scrapping a valuable perk given to Birmingham MPs, who will be allowed to continue parking free of charge at the Council House.

The review also uncovered the final cost of refurbishing offices at the Council House following the change of political control last year.

Labour's new offices, furnishings and additional equipment cost £63,000.