EMBATTLED and cash-strapped Thurrock Council - which stands on the brink of a financial crisi of catastrophic proportions - has taken legal action to try and pick up scraps from a company in which it invested a reported £20 million.

Last week the council lodged a charge against one of the many green energy companies it invested in, in a bid to claw some cash back.

But the council is just one of a number of vulture-like organisations trying desperately to pick up scraps from the rotten business carcass that is Pure World Energy.

It's just another example of the depth of the council's failed borrow-to-invest strategy that is likely to land generations of Thurrock residents with a huge bill.

In December 2020, in an exclusive story, Thurrock Nub News highlighted the problems of Pure World Energy and its parent company PWE Holding Ltd. At the time we speculated the flawed investment by Thurrock could cost up to £20 million.

Our story was rubbished by senior Thurrock Conservative councillors and treated with disdain by the council's communication team which refused to answer questions.

Now, in the wake of the recent government intervention into Thurrock's financial misdemeanours, those vultures are coming home to roost.

While Thurrock has now put a charge on both companies related to its initial investment, the truth is it is scrambling around to pick up relatively small amounts, having lost millions.

A number of other companies, including Siemens Financial Services and the Just Loans Group, which have also recorded a legal charge, are fighting for any assets left as the debacle unravels.

Nub News raised the isue of PWE's debt in 2020 but our story was rubbished by council insiders!

Nub News understands many more shocking revelations about disreputable dealings, dodgy companies and huge, as yet undisclosed losses, will continue to come to light as the investigative team delving into Thurrock's murky past continues its work.

It is a complicated web, with many players – including a man with historic links to the council's currently 'suspended' CEO Lyn Carpenter who has been put on leave while investigations continue into the council.

Tim Hewett joined PWE as a non-executive director in July 2016. The company said he has "a particular interest in assisting businesses, particularly those that are in their early growth stage, and that want to provide services to the UK leisure market."

Nub News reported Mr Hewett was featured on the personal Linked-In page of Thurrock Council CEO Lyn Carpenter. When he was working for another company the two were involved in a transaction involving Pure World Energy when she worked for Elmbridge Borough Council. Ms Carpenter has a long career history working in the leisure industry both in the private and public sector.