In 2016 Thurrock started borrowing tens of millions of pounds from other local authorities across the UK to fund investments.

Those deals included huge sums of public money loaned to businesses owned by Liam Kavanagh, who used the funds to buy solar farms.

In exchange Thurrock received income to balance its books at a time government funding for councils was being cut.

In December 2017 Thurrock poured £268m into a new deal which saw Kavanagh’s companies buy 32 more solar farms.

In 2018 Kavanagh and Thurrock finance director Sean Clark met at a five-star hotel to discuss the council increasing its investment in those sites.

The council handed over another £40m but, on the same day, almost all of the money disappeared from the accounts of Kavanagh’s company.

Within months the council had provided another £50m. This time records uncovered by TBIJ show exactly how these public funds were used.

Almost £30m of the cash was spent on a private jet and luxury sailing yacht for Kavanagh, and millions more was used to fund his extravagant lifestyle.

In January 2020 Kavanagh personally intervened to make sure Thurrock transferred another £40m.

Again this money - taxpayers’ money - was spent on his life of luxury, including a 232-acre country-estate in Hampshire.