Taxpayers' £27k bill as councillor quits 2 weeks after election

By-election costs revealed as Tories demand apology

- Phil Corrigan

A BY-ELECTION triggered by the resignation of a Reform UK councillor after just two weeks will cost taxpayers around £27,000.

Former Eccleshall & Gnosall councillor Wayne Titley, pictured, was one of 49 Reform candidates to be elected onto Staffordshire County Council as the party secured a landslide victory on May 1.

But just a fortnight later he resigned after coming under intense online criticism of social media posts attributed to him, including one which called for the Royal Navy to shoot at small boats in the English Channel.

The county council said that Mr Titley had stood down for 'personal reasons, while Reform claimed he had his family had been subject to abuse.