A former City of Melbourne councillor says lord mayor Sally Capp should be “ashamed” of herself.

Councillor Capp has racked up a bill of more than $30,000 for chauffer-driven limo trips this year, after scrapping the Town Hall’s limousine when she was elected and saying she’d use public transport, cycle or walk as much as possible for official business.

Former Melbourne councillor Peter Clarke there are a small number of functions where a special vehicle may be needed for security reasons, but they “would be at the edges, not the norm”.

Press PLAY below to hear his criticism of the lord mayor’s mammoth limousine bill

“I think what happens is people get into these roles of lord mayor, they get a bit too excited about how important they are, and then get carried away with the use of entitlements,” he told Tony Jones on 3AW Mornings.

“It is a privilege to have the role and it’s a matter of what you can achieve, it’s not a matter of what you can take out of the system — they should be ashamed.”

Eddie McGuire goes in to bat for Sally Capp after limo bill in the tens of thousands

Image (Capp): Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images