THE failure by auditors to spot a major, ongoing problem with Bromsgrove District Council's accounts stretching back to 1991, will cost council tax payers £50,000.

That's the fee auditors are charging the authority to go back through the books to find the problem despite the accounts being audited every spring.

The council failed to pass on to the government some of the business rate it collects locally on its behalf and which had accumulated to close on £2m.

Details of the bungle are contained in a report to councillors and follows an admission by council leader Dennis Norton that the authority had what he called a "serious" problem.

It came to light last year after Cllr Norton took control and vowed to get to the bottom of the problem.

At that time opposition leaders Peter McDonald (Labour-Waseley) and Nick Psirides (Ind-Norton), who have both held important finance posts with their respective controlling groups, demanded an explanation.

Cllr McDonald said he is angry tax payers will have to pick up the bill for a problem which should have been spotted by auditors. Now he is demanding to know what action the council is taking to recoup the fee.

He is also wants to know what effect having to pay the government the £1.7m will have on the council's finances.

However, there is, he said, a brighter side to the issue.

"It is the first time I can recall the council being open and transparent," he quipped.

In reply Cllr Roger Hollingworth (Con-Alvechurch) who is the cabinet member responsible for finance, said: "We promised to get to the bottom of the problem highlighted by the auditors and have now paid the government the £1.7m we owed them.

"This will have no impact on cash availability or provision of services in the forthcoming year.

"We knew there was a problem and it was taken into account when setting the council tax for 2004/5. It did cost us around £50,000 for all the help the auditors gave us to get to the bottom of the problem which had been around since 1991/2.

"Had the problem been sorted earlier it would probably have cost less, had we left it, it would undoubtedly have cost more."