A council chief accused of frivolously spending his £15,000 expenses budget has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

An investigation was carried out after it was alleged Somerset County Council chairman Alan Gloak had misspent some of his entertainment allowance, including paying a parking fine.

The inquiry was requested by Cllr David Huxtable, Conservative chair of the Liberal Democrat-controlled council's audit and resources scrutiny sub-committee.

It was launched last month after Tory councillor Brigadier Christopher Wolverson made a complaint that a parking fine incurred by Lib Dem councillor Gloak had been paid with public money, and that it was impossible to tell what some of the £15,000 budget made available to the chairman for entertaining had been spent on.

Mr Wolverson was concerned that some functions might not have been open to members of other political parties and therefore were ineligible for expense claims.

In a statement the council said: "All aspects of the complaint have now been examined by senior council officers and no evidence of impropriety or any irregularities by Cllr Gloak have been found."

Mr Huxtable said: "Specifically, in relation to the issue of the parking ticket, Cllr Gloak was not involved in any way in the decision to pay the fine by officers but has decided to reimburse the council."

Cllr Gloak incurred the parking fine at Minehead where he represented the council when a turntable was craned into West Somerset Railway's terminus earlier this year.

Mr Huxtable said: "The examination of the alleged misconduct has been helpful in highlighting some useful points to further improve the council's internal processes and officer procedures.

"Christopher Wolverson did try, unofficially, to get information on what the chairman spent his entertainment allowance on, as a matter of public record, and it wasn't easy to get the details.

"When he did, that was when the parking fine came in, and as soon as he made an official complaint we had to act on it.

"It has highlighted the fact that in some cases not many records have been kept of the people Cllr Gloak has entertained and I think the future that has to be formalised."

Mr Gloak is known to put £10,000-£15,000 of his own money into entertaining on behalf of the council.

The council's Liberal Democrat group said in a statement yesterday: "The role of chairman is non-political and the appointment is confirmed by all 58 members of the council at the AGM.

"However, the Conservatives have crossed the line by making unscrupulous allegations against Alan Gloak, in order to score political points and in so doing, damaged the reputation of his office."