Kettering councillor was summonsed to court over failure to pay council tax

Karl Sumpter (Conservative, Rothwell), was issued with a court order after failing to pay £1,483.73.

Cllr Sumpter says he was working away from home and came back to find the summons – and says it was “just one of those things”.

Cllr Sumpter, who is on the council’s monitoring and audit committee, said: “I took a new job and was working away for about six weeks.

“I missed a payment and came back to a stack of post.

“In there was a couple of letters but it was too late as I’d been given the summons, so they took an attachment off my earnings.

“It’s all paid now.

“Everyone’s in the same financial boat and it’s just one of those things.”

Cllr Sumpter was the only councillor in the county to be issued with a summons last financial year, according to Private Eye.

Three reminders were sent to Kettering councillors, with two sent to Corby councillors and seven to Northampton councillors.