by political editor Paul Francis

The former chief executive of Kent County Council has repaid the authority some £18,000 he received in fees for running local county council elections.

Mr Gilroy has handed back the money, which he received for running and organising the 2009 county election, after it emerged that while the payments were made in good faith, the county council’s arrangements for determining the level of fees was not lawful.

A council investigation established that allowing the chief executive and colleagues in district councils to effectively decide for themselves what fees they should get were "inappropriate and not permitted in law at least as far as the county council is concerned."

A report last month said while returning officers in Parliamentary elections may levy charges for their services, returning officers in local elections may only recover "expenses properly incurred".

Opposition Liberal Democrat county councillor Tim Prater, who had called for the money to be recovered from Mr Gilroy, welcomed the news.

He said: "I am very pleased that the council leader Paul Carter and the administration took this seriously and that Peter Gilroy has too. Mr Gilroy has acted honourably and done the right thing.

"This is money that can be spent on behalf of council taxpayers."

The issue has been partly resolved as the job of the electoral returning officer have been incorporated into the duties of the new group managing director Katherine Kerswell.