MORE than £36,000 paid out in error has prompted Dorset Council to introduce tighter financial checks.

Auditors have identified duplicate payments of £36,053, dating back to the former Dorset County Council, which are yet to be recovered.

Work is still ongoing to recover the money and auditors say they will be expanding their current regular data analysis work to enable Dorset Council to identify potential fraud and errors in its transactions.

Council treasurer Jim McManus says an new piece of software is now in use to help spot any errors and staffing numbers have returned to almost what they should be after a period of vacancies. “We are improving and we hope to get even better,” he said.