Ex-Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston charged with not declaring interests

Andy Preston was beaten in May's mayoral election by 760 votes

An ex-mayor is due to appear in court charged with not disclosing financial interests during his time in office.

Andy Preston, Middlesbrough's independent mayor from 2019 to 2023, has been charged with four counts of non-disclosure of pecuniary interests in executive meetings.

The 57-year-old is due to appear before Teesside Magistrates' Court on 21 August, Cleveland Police confirmed.

Mr Preston said he expected the case to be dropped "imminently".

The former mayor was ousted in May, when Labour's Chris Cooke became mayor.

Mr Cooke won by just 760 votes, with 10,956 votes to Mr Preston's 10,196.

Cleveland Police confirmed the charges related to contravention of the Localism Act 2011.

In a statement posted on social media, Mr Preston said the issue began when five councillors made a complaint against him in 2021.

'Allegations untrue'

He said the complaint alleged he had broken rules by "not properly disclosing interests at some meetings".

He said the allegations were untrue, and said three of the five unnamed councillors had since withdrawn their complaints.

"At great expense, Middlesbrough Council hired an expert law firm to properly investigate the matter," he said.

"After months of extensive examination their report concluded that I had not broken any rules or laws relating to interests."

Mr Preston said the same allegations were made to police in 2022. He said the force had taken "the matter seriously" as they were "unaware of the law firm's investigation".

"The alleged breach of the Localism Act means that I have to attend magistrates court. Experienced lawyers tell me they expect the case to be dropped imminently".