A councillor has resigned after he was found guilty of tax fraud.

Conservative councillor Colin Dingwall, 73, who represented Hailey, Minster Lovell and Leafield on West Oxfordshire District Council, was found guilty of three counts of behaving contrary to regulations for council tax reductions.

He was ordered to pay a fine of £1,119, £1,000 court costs and a £448 victim surcharge on April 19.

He had been dropped by the Conservatives as a candidate in next week's local elections but was not suspended from the party and only quit after Friday's verdict.

Criminal proceedings against Dingwall began five months ago in November 2023 and opposition parties said he should have stepped down sooner.

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Deputy leader of West Oxfordshire Liberal Democrat Group Alaric Smith said: "Dingwall has been found guilty of three charges of failing to give notice of changes affecting his entitlement to a reduction in council tax.

"This relates to the Reduction of Council Tax Scheme operated by West Oxfordshire District Council, the authority on which Mr Dingwall serves.

“As public servants representing their wards, councillors have an agreed code of conduct they sign up to.

"Cllr Dingwall's compliance with this code was clearly in question the moment charges were brought against him, yet the Conservative Party failed to uphold the code and refused to suspend him.

"Instead he was allowed to continue to work, while changing his plea, delaying his case numerous times.

"Only now that a verdict of guilty has been given has he resigned through his own free will.

"This simply isn’t good enough from the Conservatives.”

Lib Dem MP candidate for Witney and West Oxfordshire, Charlie Maynard added: “It’s a shame that this has happened in our community, as people are already having issues trusting politicians.

"Most local councillors are diligent, honest and working hard to help the community. But when there’s a problem, it needs to be dealt with quickly."

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Dingwall told the Oxford Mail: "Being a pensioner and never having claimed benefits before, during 2021/2023 I apparently over claimed £10 per week in council tax benefit which I repaid last August."

He claimed the council rejected requests to halt the case and slammed taxpayer cost for legal fees and investigations.

He added: "I served 15 years as a councillor supporting residents and helped procure over £300k funds for two village halls and improvements to Witney Rugby Club.

"These funds came from the Conservatives' Community Facilities Grants. This fund was £350k per year to be spent in the community, which the coalition has cut but is now spending on their own vanity projects like rebuilding a perfectly good council chamber at a cost of £500k.

"I helped procure a car park at Hanborough Station and proposed three major policies: the rollout of full fibre broadband with £8million funding through Gigaclear, the creation of a national award-winning policy creating hundreds of new affordable homes with Blenheim, and the policy to permit public speaking at planning meetings, giving residents a greater say on development in our district.

"I hope I have served our community well and wish it every success for the future."

The Conservatives said councillors "are rightly expected to set an example".

In a joint statement, Cllr Michele Mead, Conservative Group Leader and Cllr Liam Walker, Deputy Group Leader, said: "After discussing this matter with Colin, he also agreed with us that it wouldn’t be appropriate, now he has been found guilty, for him to continue as a district councillor and he therefore resigned on Friday.

"We want to thank Colin for his work on behalf of local residents in his ward.”