Councils should not rush to spend European regeneration cash, Liverpool Council has warned.

Executive member for housing Richard Kemp said community consultation must take precedence over hitting deadlines.

He spoke out after it emerged that South Yorkshire was trailing on spending £80m of Objective 1 cash earmarked for community regeneration.

Last month, figures showed the North-east had spent only 3% of its £440m of Objective 2 money.

Merseyside was the first area in England to gain access to the money in 1995. It is now working through a second instalment.

The money is being used for capacity building and environmental works and was crucial to the recent "yes" vote by tenants in the city's Eastern Fringe area.

Kemp said European cash was vital to projects that link housing with wider renewal, but emphasised that community-based work necessarily takes time to plan and carry through.

"You have to taper in the resources," he said, "and just as important, you have to plan for the projects to become self-supporting once the money has gone. I would rather not spend at all than waste public money."