Sarkozy, Bruni spending £660 a day on flowers

London, July 22 (ANI): If reports are to be believed, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni have been spending over 660 pounds a day on flowers.

The revelation comes as a public audit has surfaced amid the worst recession for decades.

The First Couple are also said to have used taxpayers' money to settle 3,000 pounds of fines for late payment of electricity and gas bills.

However, the annual payments Sarkozy and Bruni have made to florists to supply the Elysee Palace have caused the most astonishment.

At 241,000 pounds per year, the sum is even greater than spent by Elton John, who was revealed to spend around 460pounds-a-day on flowers in 1997.

The sum has been revealed in presidential accounts for 2008, Sarkozy's first full year in office.

It was during the same time that Sarkozy made Bruni his third wife.

Bruni is said to be fond of fresh flowers, and is frequently pictured arranging huge vases full of them inside the Elysee.

According to the Telegraph, the figures were part of the first state audit of a French leader's spending since the reign of Louis XVI.

An Elysee Palace spokesman said that the floral bill was being reduced, and that the 2008 figures were welcomed as a move towards "transparent government". (ANI)