The European Commission has spent over £300,000 on updating its logo, it has emerged.

According to reports, the Commission paid a graphic designer £110,000 to add a swerving, modernist outline of the Commission's Berlaymont building, with an extra £215,000 spent on replacing other logos used by the Commission.

The decision by the EU has been criticised by UKIP leader Nigel Farage as "such a waste of money".

He told HuffPost UK: "It is entirely in keeping with the workings of the European Commission. It has no understanding of the lives of real people which is why it continually demands more money even during a financial crisis"

Officials told The Daily Telegraph that the expenditure was a saving because it would replace 400 departmental logos within the commission, which has led to a "confused situation" that had cost £3.7 million.

"We have now combined the flag with the unique features of the Berlaymont and the European flag remains an important element in the Commission's new visual identity. That is why the cost for developing the visual identity is really not high," said a spokesman.

Richard Ashworth, leader of Britain's Conservative MEPs, said: "While member states including the UK are pushing ahead with painful austerity measures to sort out Europe's economic mess, the commission is content to spend six-figure sums on window-dressing. Of all the urgent problems facing the EU just now, this hardly top of the list."

This is not the first time EU has got into trouble over its promotional material. It was recently forced to withdraw a video after complaints that it was "racist".