IT'S as quintessentially English as Rolls-Royce or the Royal Family – and in Tunbridge Wells it seems the art of afternoon tea is very much alive – and on expenses.

It has emerged that, even though the year is 2010 not 1910, councillors in Tunbridge Wells are still entitled to claim a dedicated afternoon tea allowance.

Under the subsistence allowance, Tunbridge Wells Borough councillors are entitled to claim £3.66 when they are "away from normal place of residence between 3pm and 6pm, and prevented from following normal tea arrangements".

The allowance, which comes under the heading subsistence, is separate from the breakfast, lunch and evening meal allowances.

The council was unable to say how many councillors had claimed the allowance.

Annette Sparshott, owner of Nutmeg Tree Restaurant and Tea Rooms in the Royal Victoria Place, welcomed the discovery.

She said: "If they want to spend their afternoon tea allowances they will be welcome here.

"It's such a typically English thing to do that I suppose it is a part of our culture.

"We get a lot of tourists coming here because it's something they have heard about.

"A lot of our customers are elderly and that tends to be the group that enjoys afternoon teas most. It's quite an old fashioned thing but it's still very popular."

The Tea Advisory Panel also gave some support to the allowance, pointing out that a cup of tea in the afternoon can not only keep drinkers alert but also improve attention spans.

Cllr Roy Bullock, leader of the council, described the allowance as a "bit of a hangover from another age" and said it would be looked at.

He said: "I think you'll find that very few, if any, councillors claim that allowance. In Tunbridge Wells, we don't have many out-goings on things like that."

Figures for 2008/09 show that two councillors claimed the subsistence allowance. However the council was unable to break the figures down further to show whether any councillors used this to claim for afternoon tea.

Neither Sevenoaks District Council nor Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council offer a tea allowance.

The allowance could have come straight from the imaginations of Ron and Janet Benrey – the American authors of the Royal Tunbridge Wells Mysteries, who created a fictional tea museum in the town.