FOLLOWING an order placed on its former clerk Whitehill Town Council this week received a cheque for £70,684 from the South West Regional Confiscation Unit.

This goes some way to recouping the £162,000 fraudulently obtained by former clerk Trish Bell, currently serving a 28-month prison sentence.

The money, which will be re-invested locally and used to improve town council facilities, will help with long-term targets to bring the council's finances back in order.

The council has a "strategic plan" in place which aims to have an appropriate level of general reserves after these became "unacceptably low" following the fraud.

For full story, see this week's Bordon Herald.