Tory councillor Harry Phibbs has called for Hammersmith and Fulham children in care to be sent to boarding schools and sprinkler systems put in care homes to cut down on night staff.

Cllr Harry Phibbs, who represents Ravenscourt Park ward in Hammersmith, has created a list of 100 ways to cut council tax, while keeping council services going.

The list, which appears on the Tory website ConservativeHome, veers from the amusing to the controversial.

The list starts with calls to freeze recruitment and to get rid of diversity officers. So far, so predictable.

But, in a plea possibly welcomed by journalists, Cllr Phibbs also said council press offices should be scrapped altogether, or staff in them to be drastically reduced.

Next in the cost-cutting councillor's sights were children: Place more of them up for adoption, because it is better for them and cheaper for us, he said.

Those children remaining in care should be "sent to boarding schools" he added.

But the councillor may want to avoid the council canteen for a while, after saying they should also be scrapped and that staff were likely to "find better fare... at spud-u-like".

Continuing his tirade, Cllr Phibbs said translation services for council documents and services, as well as "funding refugee lobby groups" could go and the money better spent on teaching people English.

Staff might find his call for more of them - those that remain - to work from home appealing, but Cllr Phibbs also advocates a tough crack-down on absenteeism, as well as union representation.

"Cease to employ staff to be trade union officials," he wrote.

One of his more bizarre suggestions related to staffing in care homes. "Use sprinklers in care homes, allowing a potential reduction in night staff and safer elderly residents," he said.

Cllr Phibbs said: "This is not an official Conservative party line for the borough, it's simply a list of ideas looking at ways to cut council tax, without cutting basic services. Some of these things are things Hammersmith and Fulham are doing, some councils are doing others, some are my own ideas. I would urge people to read the full text on the website (ConservativeHome) because often things get misinterpreted."