A THIRD finance chief in less than 12 months has been appointed by bankruptcy-threatened Somerset Council.

The council made a temporary appointment after failing to recruit a permanent officer, which Conservative opposition leader Cllr Diogo Rodrigues said would cost taxpayers £270,000 for nine months, £120,000 over budget, with the overspend plugged by selling off assets.

The new officer takes over on July 1 and become the third person in a year to hold the critical role after a previous officer took redundancy last August with a £522,000 payout package.

Cllr Rodrigues said the council needed to ‘get a grip’ on the financial emergency Somerset faced.

He said the situation ‘demands urgency and competence’ with the delay wasting public money and adding to leadership team instability.