THE mayor of Carterton has defended herself against a series of allegations by the town council clerk.

After weeks of silence, Mrs Little spoke to the Witney Gazette after it was revealed that Carterton clerk Ron Spurs was set to pass concerns about a ‘Mayor’s allowance bank account’ on to Thames Valley Police.

This followed an independent audit of the account that was initiated by Mr Spurs after he grew concerned about the way it was being managed, as reported in the Witney Gazette last month.

Mrs Little, who is now in her fifth year as mayor, said that she had refrained from commenting up until this point because she has been adhering to her code of conduct as a councillor.

She said that the recent discord was a result of a split council – divided by a group of councillors determined to strip her of the mayoral chains.

Regarding the concerns around the bank account, of which Mr Spurs said she was in total control, she said: “I have never, at this moment in time, been asked to go to a meeting and be interviewed about this matter.

"I have never been given the opportunity to respond to any of the queries regarding the mayor’s account.

“I have proof that I have requested several meetings with the town clerk or the corporate body.

“The mayor’s account was audited in February of this year by the clerk following a Freedom of Information request and I was with the clerk when he completed the audit.

“The account has been in operation for more than 11 years and the clerk is the responsible financial officer.

"Would I not have been told in February if there was something wrong with the account?

“Why did the clerk not advise me in February? A town clerk should ensure that all councillors are legal at all times and should protect councillors when situations like this occur.

"He has in fact failed to do that and done the complete opposite.

“At the very least there should have been an internal investigation.

"This has not occurred and I believe this is all the result of the actions of four town councillors who have split the town council.”

Mrs Little said she has no access to the account at the moment.

When he initiated the inspection of the account, Mr Spurs wrote to the independent auditor stating the account was formerly managed by council staff but that Mrs Little, after becoming mayor, took total control and is now the only signatory.

Among the concerns raised with the auditor was a payment of £4,000 to ‘Ted Little’s Veteran’s Home’.

Mr Spurs told the auditor the home is not registered with the Charity Commission and that the council has not been informed about its governance, or charitable objectives.

Mrs Little said this was untrue and that the council was aware of the project.

Another concern related to 15 tickets for a St George’s Day dinner earlier this year.

The tickets – which should have cost £40 – were allegedly given for free to Mrs Little’s relatives, members of the RAF, representatives from two companies and the ‘wife of a local celebrity’.

Mrs Little denied this too, saying that the only people to be given free entry were her own 'personal VIP guests' like Tim Jones, the station commander at RAF Brize Norton.

Mr Spurs said: “There are a number of matters which have been referred to the monitoring officer and Thames Valley Police.

"There is a convention in national and local government that protects officers from criticism from elected politicians which by virtue of the officer’s role they cannot respond to.

"It appears that this convention has been ignored on this occasion by those involved in this case.

"It would be inappropriate for me to comment further”