HEALTH bureaucrats have been slammed for spending thousands on an away day at the swanky Oval cricket ground – just down the road from their Whitehall HQ.

Department of Health staff spent £3,150 on hiring a function room for a “professional development day” in September last year.

Their head office is only a mile-and-a-half away over the River Thames in Whitehall.

Sources said they did not watch a cricket match.

William Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “Taxpayers will be baffled that officials thought it was reasonable to shell out over £3,000 for an away day just a stone’s throw from their own offices.

“Even if no cricket was watched, there’s no excuse for this kind of wasteful spending when budgets are tight.

“The government was right to clamp down on government credit cards, but must remain vigilant to make sure civil servants don’t revert back to old habits.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Since this spending occurred, we have restricted spending on away days at external venues and all departments and public bodies have been told to freeze nearly all government credit cards, with tough new rules introduced for civil servants looking to reapply.”