Oxford City Council is considering creating a job for someone with special responsibility for switching off lights, turning down thermostats and closing doors.

The so-called "energy officer" - who the Oxford Mail has been told would be paid between £20,000 and £25,000 - would be charged with putting in place measures so the authority meets its target of reducing energy use by three per cent year-on-year.

Housing director Michael Lawrence said an energy officer would primarily be responsible for driving down consumption in council-owed buildings, many of which are old and not well insulated.

"Whether we hire someone on a short-term contract or consultants, I don't know," he said.

The idea of creating the job was raised at a recent high-level environment scrutiny meeting. But Labour city councillor John Tanner, formerly the environment portfolio holder, said he did not believe a new post should be created.

He said: "Initially we need someone to go round turning off lights, switching down thermostats and closing doors.

"But we have got to put money into insulation and green energy so we can make the three per cent a year cuts.

"I'm not saying we need a new officer to do that. We already have a climate change officer and a sustainability officer - I don't see how we need an energy officer.

"How many environment officers does it take to turn off the lights?"

In 2005/06 the Town Hall's electricity bill was £813,035.43, small beer compared to Oxfordshire County Council, which ran up a whopping £4.1m bill. If the job was created, the energy officer would initially be responsible for achieving so-called "quick wins" like switching off lights, but in the long-term would be charged with drawing up policies for vastly reduced consumption.

Blackbird Leys Parish Council chairman Brian Lester said: "The lunatics have taken over the asylum, it's a total non-job.

"Theoretically it's a good idea, but I would have thought it's a job for the caretaker.

"There is a proposal before the county council to stop funding for advice centres, so if they want to spend money, spend it on one of them."

City councillor and climate change expert Susan Roaf added: "By shutting doors and doing no-cost actions we can save energy.

"We want action - more consultants is an excuse for procrastination."