EVIDENCE of thousands of pounds worth of public money being squandered on extravagant hospitality, including regular trips to an influential property conference on the French Riviera, has been uncovered at Arch.

The company, a wholly owned development arm of Northumberland County Council, has been the subject of scrutiny since last May’s election and was the focus of a damning urgent report presented to the authority’s audit committee on Wednesday.

Delegates from Arch, along with a string of invited advisors and guests, are understood to have been regular attendees at the Le marche international des professionels de l’immobilier (MIPIM) international real estate event in Cannes, which hit the national headlines after it became mired in allegations, of sexism, drunken behaviour and prostitution in the lead up to the 2018 event earlier this month.

Seven trips to the annual event in Cannes, and subsidiary events held in the UK, since 2014 have cost the county’s council tax payers more than £73,000 – with no evidence found of the evaluation of the benefits.

The money spent includes covering the cost of first class travel and accommodation for members of the Arch board and elected members of the county council, as well as high cost meals and alcoholic beverages which sometimes amounted to a cost of £200 per head.

On one occasion, travel and accommodation costs were in excess of £13,000, which was lost after the Arch Group made the booking with a company, which later turned out to be fraudulent.

In 2017, there is evidence that a driver from a Bedlington-based taxi firm was flown to Nice in France and provided with a vehicle and accommodation for the purposes of transporting the delegates attending the MIPIM conference.

In addition to the money spent at the MIPIM events, the report details “significant expenditure” on the Arch Group credit card between April 2016 and June 2017.

It includes £1,000 spent on a leaving event for the former chief executive of the Arch Group at a Newcastle hotel, which was cancelled when it was too late to recover any costs; £6,000 on annual Arch Group Christmas parties; £3,000 on Christmas parties for Arch contractors at Ashington Football Club; and £3,500 on travel, accommodation and hospitality for a trip to a sporting event at Wembley by members of the Arch board.

Corbridge’s Coun. Nick Oliver, portfolio holder for corporate services at the council, said: “Unfortunately this is the tip of the iceberg.

“These bad practices appear to have been endemic and we cannot comment any further on many of these issues because they remain subject to police investigation.

“The council’s internal audit team have provided the police with a lot of information and will continue to support them in any way they can as they wade through it.

“We have already put into place strong governance measures and we are determined to root out all instances of misuse of public funds or worse.”