The scandal over a Norfolk councillor who has declined to say if she has fulfilled a pledge to make a £10,000 charity donation has taken a new twist.

Attleborough councillors have now called for an investigation into how an email was sent to this newspaper on the authority's behalf - which appeared to defend the town's under fire deputy mayor Taila Taylor - without their knowledge.

They say they do not know who was responsible for the message, which was sent from an official Attleborough Town Council email address after our reporter contacted the authority asking it to clarify its position over the issue.

Ms Taylor with Stephen Fraser (middle) and her mother Samantha Taylor (right) - who are both Breckland councillors - at a party over the weekend (Image: Facebook)

Ms Taylor has been under pressure to say whether or not she has paid £10,000, which she received from the council, to charity.

The money was part of £20,000 given to her in damages following a dispute in 2021.

The settlement included a clause that half of it should go to a local good cause, but Ms Taylor has declined to clarify whether this happened.

Instead, she has accused the council of not fulfilling its obligations under the settlement, meaning she does not have to abide by the clause.

Our email to the council asked it to clarify its position, including what steps it had taken to ensure the conditions of the settlement had been met.

The response - which ran in our story last week - did not address this, suggesting the events had taken place too long ago, but appeared to broadly echo Ms Taylor's position.

Taila Taylor is the deputy mayor of Attleborough Town Council and also sits on Breckland Council (Image: Attleborough Town Council)

It stated the council was "aware that Ms Taylor has provided a response outlining the legal context of the 2021 settlement agreement, including the conditional nature of the £10,000 clause and the Council's obligations under it".

It added: “For clarity, the Town Council is a corporate body of 15 members, and only four councillors who were serving at the time remain in office.

"The council's administration has also changed significantly, including the town clerk.

 “Accordingly, the matters you refer to relate to a previous council and administration, and do not reflect the actions of the current council.”

Now, the email itself has come under scrutiny after a member of the public raised a question at an Attleborough Town Council meeting last week asking councillors to clarify how the authority issued statements, citing the one given to the EDP about Ms Taylor.

In response, councillors said that they had no knowledge of that particular communication whatsoever.

They said this could be a potential violation of council policy, which requires all press communications to be approved by a majority of members before being sent.

Councillors at the meeting claimed that neither the EDP's query nor the response to it was not sent out to them.

Vera Dale told the meeting: "I have not seen anything through the council.

"Our protocol says anything for the press should come to the clerk first to be verified.

"It shouldn't have been given out."

Fellow councillor Daniel Burcham has also called for the matter to be investigated.

Ms Taylor, who also sits on Breckland Council, was present at the meeting but did not speak out about the mystery email.

The sign-off on the email itself was from a clerk's assistant at the authority.

Attleborough Town Council has earned a reputation as Britain's most chaotic council in recent years due to bitter infighting and disputes with public (Image: Archant)

Council officials have declined to give any further information about the email.

The bizarre episode is the latest convulsion to grip the notoriously combustible council.

It has become known as Battleborough and Aggroborough in recent years as a result of its bitter internal feuding.

The authority is now split broadly into two factions.

One - the Taylors - is mostly made up Tories and includes Ms Taylor, her mother Samantha and grandfather John.

A meeting at Attleborough Town Council last month (Image: Facebook)

The other - the Newbies - is predominantly made up of Reform members who have joined the authority more recently and are strongly critical of the Taylors.

They have been leading the calls for Ms Taylor to clarify what has happened to the £10,000 and have now urged an investigation into the mystery email.

Daniel Burcham, one of the Newbies, said: "We need more answers.

"It isn't enough to say: 'This is all sorted and in the past and that it is the council's fault that the councillor doesn't have to meet her obligations'.

Daniel Burcham, Attleborough councillor (Image: Attleborough Town Council)

"This all boils down to the £10,000, which is a lot of money which I believe was always intended to go towards a local charity. I think the settlement makes it clear it was not meant to go to Ms Taylor.

"If she thought she could not fulfil her obligation because of something the council had or had not done, then what action did she take to sort it out and make sure she could make it? She has been a councillor this entire time.

"We need more clarification from her than this, so the people of Attleborough can be satisfied we have got to the bottom of this and we can move on as a council. This has gone on long enough."

Ms Taylor, who has also announced she is standing in the county council elections, has declined to comment.

The settlement in 2021 came after she was removed from committee roles on the council following bullying allegations made by council staff.

A judge later ruled the move unlawful and said Ms Taylor had been defamed.

She has argued in the past that she is not obliged to make public what has happened to the £10,000 and has accused the council of failing to honour its own obligations under the agreement.

She said it left defamatory material online and removed a required public apology from its website, and that this released her from her charitable obligation.

She has also said that she has continued to donate to local good causes.

Five fellow councillors have since reported her to the police, accusing her of potential misconduct and misuse of funds in a public office.

The force has since said it is reviewing the complaint.

Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman, the area's MP who has campaigned alongside Ms Taylor in the past, has declined to comment.

Taila Taylor, standing here with Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman, has been reported to the police by her fellow councillors (Image: Facebook)

However, he has indicated his support for her by 'liking' Facebook posts in which she sets out her position.

Sam Chapman-Allen, the Conservative leader of Breckland Council, the Mid Norfolk Conservative association and the national Conservative Party have all declined to comment.

SO WHAT DID THE SETTLEMENT SAY?

The settlement, which was made in May 2021, stated: "In respect of the sums set out at clause 1.1.1 (and subject to full compliance of this Agreement by the Defendant [the council]) the First Claimant [Ms Taylor] shall pay the sum of £10,000 to a charity or project based in Attleborough of the First Claimant’s choice within 12 months of this Agreement."

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