A council has written off thousands of pounds which went missing during an election, The Argus can reveal.

One senior official at Worthing Borough Council has vanished since the 2000 local election, when high-ranking staff received expenses to which the council now says they were not entitled.

Although some of the money was paid back, thousands of pounds were written off as a bad debt.

Today the council denied it had attempted to hush up the matter.

But one senior official has called for an investigation following the revelations, which have done nothing to enhance the embattled authority's reputation.

During its six-month investigation into the Sheryl Grady affair, The Argus uncovered details of over-payments to former chief executive Michael Ball and his deputy Keith Eales.

Miss Grady, who took over from Mr Ball as chief executive, is on long-term sick leave with stress after being accused of bullying by two other former council employees.

Liberal Democrat councillor Sheila Player, leader of the council, and leading Tory councillor Steven Waight both confirmed a financial probe was launched in 2000 when problems with election expenses were discovered.

An investigation by independent solicitors was commissioned at the time and it found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing but did conclude payments had been made to which the recipients may not have been contractually entitled.

Mr Ball immediately paid back £2,800, stating he had been "very badly let down" by Mr Eales, to whom he had delegated some election responsibilities.

It is understood Mr Ball, the borough's returning officer, was disappointed that "fee calculation errors" had not been picked up either by the Home Office or West Sussex County Council at the time.

Mr Ball believed the circumstances had marred what he thought had been a distinguished career serving the borough. Today Mr Ball could not be contacted for comment.

Mr Eales quit the council in 2000 and efforts by The Argus to locate him have so far failed.

The council pursued him for repayment of £6,800 and about half of this sum was recovered, although the council has refused to reveal how this was achieved.

The rest, approximately £3,400, was written off as an irrecoverable debt.

The sums related to expenses paid for general, county, local and European election duties dating back a number of years.

Money was claimed for a variety of duties, such as moving ballot boxes around the town hall.

Today, Coun Keith Mercer, leader of the Conservative opposition group on the Lib Dem-run council, told The Argus: "I am grateful to you for bringing the matter to my attention.

"My first reading of the content is one of shock and I intend to follow up the matter with council officers and with the District Auditor.

"I shall be particularly interested in exploring the thinking behind the decision to write off a substantial debt."

Councillor Waight, a fellow Tory, said: "Ultimately, it was Michael Ball's responsibility. He delegated the task to Keith Eales.

"Keith Eales somehow managed to claim monies that weren't due and Michael may have been a recipient of that, which he paid back.

"It was a failure in the system which enabled people to claim expenses which hadn't been incurred. It wasn't detected for some years. I don't know how many elections.

"It would be very useful to find Mr Eales. We would pursue him if we could find him. He literally disappeared from home."

It was the borough treasurer's department which eventually uncovered the anomaly in what Mr Eales was doing.

Coun Waight said: "We went to look at Mr Eales' laptop. We thought there might be something there but it had been wiped clean, even though when he disappeared it was actually locked in the council's safe.

"Although we didn't give details of precisely what had gone on, I don't recall there being any cover-up. It was obviously a sensitive issue at the time but internally there was quite a big ruckus going on.

"We were concerned this had happened and wanted to make sure it couldn't happen again."

Coun Player said: "I cannot remember what the figures were. I do remember there was a report issued. It was a case of overpayment.

"Immediately it was brought to Michael Ball's attention it was repaid."

Tim Everett, the council's director of services, said: "I accept it is important for this council, like all public bodies, to demonstrate it deals with its finances properly.

"Most of the staff who were directly involved in the issues raised are no longer with the council and the current chief executive is still on sick leave.

"The council's budgets are audited internally and externally each year as a matter of course and the other bodies referred to have their own additional accounting procedures.

"We can find no trace of any reference to any such concerns from an external auditor on any annual accounts.

"There was no evidence of any criminal wrongdoing and to summarise the later detailed report by external solicitors, it could best be regarded as having led to overpayments to some staff to which they may not have been contractually entitled.

"A decision was made to seek recovery from two individuals.

"One of those, who on the evidence had been unaware he had been the recipient of incorrectly paid sums, repaid the money promptly as soon as it was brought to his attention.

"The other individual did not so respond."

Mr Everett said the most the council could have reclaimed from this individual was £6,800 if all the sums in question were proved to have been contractual overpayments.

He said: "In fact, about half this sum was recovered. The issue was never tested in court. On the advice of the external solicitors and with the agreement of the District Auditor, the remaining sum was written off as an irrecoverable debt.

"It was considered the debt was uneconomic to pursue, taking into account the costs of the action and the chances of success.

"On the basis of the documents we have seen we are satisfied this was a pragmatic and sensible decision on the evidence available."

Mr Everett insisted the council did not like writing off debts but the total was well within reasonable norms.

He said: "Regrettably, there will always be times when it is the appropriate course of action."

Mr Ball, who lived in Pembury Road, Worthing, took early retirement in 2000 to look after his sick wife, who has since died. He has remarried and lives in the Thakeham area, near Storrington.

Councillors and council staff said they did not know where Mr Eales now lived. One said New Zealand, while another had heard he was working in London.

Miss Grady took over from Mr Ball in 2000, and, according to a senior council officer at the time, on learning of the expenses problems she mounted a "very thorough" review.