Two councils named in research by conservative pressure group the Taxpayers' Alliance have denied accusations they "own" 'non-essential' assets.

The right-leaning think-tank criticised several councils for holding assets including a model railway and a wet fish stall, arguing local authorities should stick to running "essential services".

Yet the Taxpayers' Alliance has also condemned councils for running leisure centres, theatres and car parks, which many would regard as standard local authority interests.

The research is a result of a Freedom of Information request, asking councils to divulge the number of golf courses, shops, car parks, theatres, cafes and other assets under local authority control.

The research ostensibly revealed Thanet District Council owns a wet fish stall while Gravesham Borough Council owns a model railway, home of the popular Gravesend Model Railway.

But a Gravesham council spokesman refuted the study, stating the authority did not own the asset.

He said: "The council owns the land near Cascades leisure centre which is leased to a commercial company which runs a model railway."

Thanet council also denied the pressure group's spurious claims.

A spokesman said: "We don’t own a wet fish stall.

"This has probably arisen as the council owns land/assets across the district which are leased, licensed or rented out to different businesses and concessions for lots of different things."