WEST Devon Borough Council spent more than £100,000 setting up a business venture which never traded, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

The council looked into setting up a separate Local Authority Controlled Company (LACC) to run council services as part of efforts to plug a gap in its budget caused by cuts in Central Government funding but rejected it in February 2017.

However, the abortive venture ended up costing WDBC £106,000 in legal and consultancy fees, as the council has now admitted in response to a FOI request.

The council’s response to the FOI request revealed that the council spent the £106,000 on employing external consultants. This figure did not include its own staff’s time in working on the proposal.

Read the full story in today’s edition of the Tavistock Times.