Opposition councillors have questioned proposals to provide £500,000 to a campaign aimed at building a new Norfolk hospice.

Norfolk County Council announced on Friday that its policy and resources committee will consider investing the money from its capital programme.

Leader Cliff Jordan said it would go towards the East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) charity, which supports 350 children and families in Norfolk each year.

While opposition councillors say they fully support the charity, they have questioned where the money has come from.

It comes as the council looks to make cuts in other areas to plug a £125m spending gap.

Steve Morphew, Labour councillor, said: 'I am a big fan of the East Anglia hospices, so there is no suggestion that this is not for a good cause. But the timing is odd.

'I think they [the council] are going to have to explain to a lot of other good causes how they can find that amount of money without talking to anyone else about it.'

The council's policy and resources committee will consider the investment at 10am on Monday, January 29.

Mr Jordan, Conservative, said: ''I said this council would care for our county. By proposing to invest £500,000 from our capital programme into this state-of-the-art hospice, we will encourage other people to contribute.

'Clearly, we can't afford to support every charity in the county but this is an example where some targeted investment from us can achieve major benefits to the children, young people and families that we serve.'

EACH is currently seeking to build a new purpose-built hospital to replace its currently facility in Quidenham.

The council, in partnership with the NHS, provides £142,000 of funding to EACH per year.

Labour county councillor Chris Jones said: 'It is great news, and I am sure we would want to support it, but we would want detail on how they [Norfolk County Council] has managed to do this and how it sits with all the other things going on with the council.

'It is going to be a tough budget.'

The council said its capital programme is funded by grants and sales of land. It is managed separately from the council's revenue budget, which funds the council's services and running costs.