ALMOST 20,000 government credit cards were frozen last night amid rocketing spending by mandarins.
Holders of procurement cards — allowing civil servants to spend without ministerial oversight — will have to reapply.
If they fail the test, cards will be cancelled before April.
Spending on the cards has soared 300 per cent in four years, topping £675million last year.
The Sun on Sunday told how £700 had been spent in October 2023 at a shop selling cardboard cutouts of celebs.
Another £965 had been racked up at a bowling club in Toronto, Canada, in January 2023.
Cabinet Office boss Pat McFadden said: “Only officials for whom it is essential should have a card.”
Tighter limits have also been announced, with the maximum spend for hospitality slashed from £2,500 to £500.
Anything over that amount needs a boss’s approval.
