A Burntwood councillor is facing renewed calls to explain where funding he was given for a tree planting scheme has gone.
Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd quit the Conservative party in the wake of a six month ban the party handed him over the controversy.
His company was awarded £924 by a climate change fund at Staffordshire County Council in the run up to his election in the Burntwood North division.
But despite it being revealed in December that no trees were planted or purchased, both Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd and the county council have refused to confirm whether the funding has been returned to the public purse.
Prior to his permanent departure from the Conservatives – which now sees him sit as an independent – the councillor had revealed he was at odds with the party, telling Lichfield Live he had “f**k all interest in Conservatives who lack the balls to confront me”.
Cllr Rob Birch, a Labour representative at both Lichfield District Council and Burntwood Town Council, said Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd now needed to confront the issues of what has happened to the money his now dissolved company received.
“There is still no answers on where the money is, from him nor Staffordshire County Council.
“The trouble with him saying he has no interest in the Conservatives without the balls to confront him is that when confronted he cries foul, blames mental health and disability and then goes into hiding.”
Cllr Rob Birch
Both Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd and Staffordshire County Council have once again been approached by Lichfield Live for comment on whether the money has been repaid – but both parties are remaining tight-lipped.
But criticism has come from within the councillor’s former Conservative group, with Cllr Richard Cox saying he had “no integrity or principles whatsoever”.
