More than £3,700 was spent investigating a complaint about a Black Country councillor who sparked a racism row with a joke email, it was revealed today.

Conservative Councillor Ken Turner was referred to Dudley Council’s standards committee by Labour councillor Tim Crumpton who branded the joke “disgusting”.

It has also been revealed that solicitor Helen Kidd spent a total of 48 hours investigating a complaint by Councillor Crumpton.

Councillor Turner, member for Hayley Green and Cradley South, who sent the email to all councillors in December using his council account, was subsequently found guilty of breaching the council’s code of conduct following the investigation in February.

The message talks about a Somalian immigrant arriving in London, and is described in the email as “not PC but maybe the best joke of the year”.

Figures show the costs of the investigation by Dudley Council amounted to £3,767.38 in details obtained by the Express & Star through a Freedom of Information Act request.

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