SOMERSET County Council has paid out a total of £55,000 in legal costs over the unexplained departure of its former chief executive Sheila Wheeler.

Mrs Wheeler left the authority in February "by mutual agreement" with a £40,000 pay-off, after having been off work since the previous November on full pay.

And this week the council confirmed the level of legal costs it had racked up directly relating to her departure, including the cost of drawing up the legal agreement signed by both sides.

But it also revealed that it had paid out an additional £109,000 to defend itself against a complaint against several individuals within the council.

A spokesman for the authority said that, for legal reasons, it was unable to comment any further on the secondary issue, which had been dealt with through an independent process.

But he insisted it was not related to Mrs Wheeler's departure.

The spokesman said that, in any dispute with a chief executive, a council had to follow nationally agreed statutory guidelines and appoint an independent barrister.

"Somerset County Council complied with this statutory process.

"Sheila Wheeler left the authority with a three-month notice paid up - a total of £40,000.

"There were no pension contributions on top of this sum."

Mrs Wheeler, who joined the council in February 2010, received an annual salary of £160,000 - more than Prime Minister David Cameron is paid.