A B&Q store has been refunded business rates worth £430,000 – dating back six years – after a series of private meetings with government department officials.

Property agents for the DIY chain’s store in Longfield Retail Park received the payments after making two appeals to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), the body which gives the Government property tax advice.

Council officials are calling for more transparency on how these decisions are made, after its requests for answers from the VOA were turned down on the grounds the meetings were private.

B&Q made the requests due to disruption caused by roadworks on Longfield Road.

The store’s ratable value – the estimated rental value of the property, on which business rates are calculated – stood at £1.8 million in April 2010.

However, that was reset on appeal to £1.7 million in 2011 and then again to £1.5 million last month in a decision which required the council to refund rates collected back to 2010.

Lee Colyer, director of finance at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, said: “Since 2013 half the amount collected from business rates is used to fund local services.

“The refund of such a large sum of money is, in-effect, borne by all local tax payers so it is important to make sure all decisions are transparent and based on all information required so to be seen to be fair to all taxpayers...” - Lee Colyer, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

“The refund of such a large sum of money is, in-effect, borne by all local tax payers so it is important to make sure all decisions are transparent and based on all information required so to be seen to be fair to all taxpayers.”

The council said it expects B&Q to appeal its rateable value again as the road improvement works continue.

Mr Colyer added: “These completed improvements had the support of local businesses resulting in a £7.5 million scheme being successfully completed.

“Whether this latest appeal is also decided behind closed doors by the VOA with B&Q’s property agents is unclear.

“Plus, without knowing when or where this meeting will occur, it is difficult to know whether sufficient information will be presented on behalf of local taxpayers.”

A B&Q spokesperson said: “The building was wrongly valued by the Valuation Office.

“B&Q followed the standard process to request the valuation be brought in line with the correct rate for the property type.

“The Valuation Office accepted B&Q had been overpaying for the last six years and the rateable value was revised and backdated to 2010.”