A PARISH council has defended itself against allegations of financial mismanagement and of failing to follow correct procedures.

A Potto resident, who asked not to be named, has complained that Potto Parish Council is wasting thousands of pounds of tax payers money on auditors PKF Littlejohn to investigate its accounts.

Objections have been made by the resident to the annual returns made by Potto Parish Council dating back several years, resulting in lengthy and expensive investigations.

The resident claimed the community is “alarmed” by the fees being incurred by the council and accused it of failing to respond appropriately to recommendations from the audit reports.

He also accused the council of a lack of transparency over its financial affairs.

He claimed: “The growing feeling amongst residents is that Potto Parish Council should be abolished entirely or merged with another parish council.

“If Potto council can advise the auditor that such a move is now underway, the necessity to investigate the objections can be paused and may even be eliminated.”

However the chair of the parish council, Andy Wilde, emphatically rejected the accusations.

He confirmed that over the last four years Potto Parish Council has spent £4,700 on audit investigations and explained that action plans are made following the reports, which are are subsequently implemented.

Mr Wilde said: “Potto Parish Council is working closely with the YLCA (Yorkshire Local Councils Associations), PKF Littlejohn and others to resolve any and all outstanding issues as quickly as possible.

“Potto Parish Council is a small parish council made up of volunteers who wish to help their community and undertake many community projects for the benefit of the residents.

“Unfortunately the behaviour of a single individual causes a great deal of distress within the community, causes a great deal of man-hours to be expended and costs all of the residents of Potto financially.”