Settling legal claims over an unlawful ban on live animal exports has cost Thanet council £3m - and the final bill could be even higher.

Councillors have been told the authority is expecting more claims after the ban on animal exports from the Port of Ramsgate was found to be unlawful.

In August, the council’s accounts reported it had paid £2.3m to settle claims with exporters but that figure has now risen by £700,000 as a result of new claims.

A report to the authority’s cabinet this week on the rising costs said: “One-off settlements such as these have put a substantial strain on the finances of the council and seen a reduction in available usable reserves.

"It has been necessary to contain spending across the council and put in place a number of constraints.”

The council says that despite the rising bill, frontline services will not be affected.

“One-off settlements such as these have put a substantial strain on the finances of the council" - council report on live animal exports

In a statement, it said: “These one-off costs have had no direct on-going impact on frontline services, but reserves have had to be utilised as a funding source.”

But the council declined to speculate on what the final bill was likely to be, saying it would not be appropriate to comment.

However, the report warned that there were expected to be “further liabilities” to some employees connected to claims related to a Health and Safety report.

Thanet council was taken to court by companies who had been stopped from exporting live animals in 2012.

That action was successful and the High Court ruled compensation must be paid to cover the losses as a result of the authority’s ban.

Former Green councillor Ian Driver said it should have been clear at the outset that the former Labour administration, who initiated the ban, would run into trouble.

A judge ruled in 2013 that the ban was a "disproportionate decision reached in haste" without receiving separate legal advice.