Complaints will not cost village

Parish council chairman Gil Hunt will be voting at the meeting on Monday

A parish council has voted not to quadruple its share of council tax to meet the cost of a serial complainer.

Roughton Parish Council received a £9,269 bill from an external auditor when Tony Musker complained about the council's 2007/2008 accounts.

The parish gets £8,500 from council tax each year so councillors voted on Monday night on whether to raise tax from about £28 to £114 per household.

Councillors rejected the amount and instead increased it £37 to about £65.

Mr Musker has complained about the parish council to North Norfolk District Council more than 17 times since 2008.

Investigating accounts

The council clerk Elaine Pugh said she recommended the tax increase to cover the bill and in case of future complaints.

Mr Musker's letter to the external auditor was 14 pages long. When it was investigated, 55p was unaccounted for due to a typographical error and some procedural errors were found.

If a complaint or objection is made about parish council accounts the external auditor is obliged to look at it and decide whether to take it further.

The parish council has had to borrow money from North Norfolk District Council to pay for the bill.

Mr Musker previously said he was not interested in commenting on the matter.