Middlewich bypass is one of CEC land deals being investigated by police

Cheshire East has confirmed one of the land deals being investigated by police relates to the planned Middlewich Eastern Bypass – but the council says this won’t affect the delivery of the scheme.

Police are looking at a number of historic matters relating to Cheshire East and some are known to be land transactions.

Until recently the location of those sites has been kept under wraps.

This week a spokesperson for the council stressed the Middlewich Bypass land deal is one of the ongoing investigations – it is not a new matter.

“We are fully aware that the police are investigating concerns regarding land transactions related to the planned Middlewich Eastern Bypass,” said the council spokesperson.

“This follows a referral made by Cheshire East Council some months ago following audit work into previous land matters undertaken by the council’s audit team last year.

“We  will continue to cooperate fully with the police in their investigation.

“This does not impact on the timeline for our programme to deliver Middlewich Eastern Bypass.

“As this is a live investigation it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

Altogether Cheshire police are looking at seven historic matters relating to Cheshire East.

In March Cheshire Live revealed one of the land deals involved the former Royal Mail site in Crewe , which the council bought in 2011 for £2.75m.

Other historic matters being looked at by the police involving the council include the awarding of contracts, allegations surrounding the manipulation of air quality data and the allocation of public funds in making a grant to Berkeley Academy – matters which were all referred to the constabulary by Cheshire East itself.

In June of last year, police submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) following an investigation into the awarding of contracts at the council, after a criminal investigation which began in January 2016.

No announcement has been made yet by the CPS on whether any action is to be taken or not in relation to that investigation.

The other matters being looked at by police are still ongoing