THE chairman of Brierley Town Council admitted that mistakes had been made during the time Jan Cooper was clerk to the council, but stopped short of apologising to parishioners.

 

Coun Pat Doyle was quizzed about why Cooper, who was jailed for eight years for swindling £700,000 from the council, was allowed to write cheques for up to £207,000 when the clerk's account was for emergencies only, with a small limit of about £1,500.

 

At the monthly meeting he said: "You make some fair points. I admit we have made mistakes."

 

Cooper left the council with crippling debts and condemned thousands of householders to pick up the bill through the parish precept levied on their council tax for years to come.

 

Resident Robert Weldon, of Briar Grove, Brierley, has submitted a Freedom of Information request for the council's bank accounts and asked why Cooper was writing cheques from the account for large sums of money, when the limit she was allowed was just £1,500.

 

He was told by Coun Doyle that Cooper had stopped using the general account and started using the clerk's account to make every payment, and admitted councillors did not notice this when looking at accounts at monthly meetings.

 

"We weren't looking at the heading at the top of the page, we were just looking at the finer detail in the paper and if there appeared to be what we expected to spend.

 

"It was coming out of the wrong account, but we believed it to be coming out of the proper account of the council."

 

Another resident Connie Grayson, of Windmill Avenue, Grimethorpe, said: "There was gross neglect in the council not checking all these things.

 

"This went on for more than three years. We had a finance officer, he should have noticed things that were wrong with the paperwork.

 

"The councillors are responsible for this neglect. You didn't follow your own rules and regulations which a council should abide by."

 

Coun Alex Vodden added: "We did not carry out the duties expected of us, but we took action as soon as we could."

 

But Coun Malcolm Davies said: "I do not take responsibility for what crooks do to me."