Dudley Council legal threat to UKIP over Himley Hall hire
Dudley Council threatened UKIP with legal action when the cash-strapped party failed to pay a bill of less than £500 to hire Himley Hall for a meeting last year.
The party hosted a defence policy meeting at the 18th century South Staffordshire attraction in April.
The event was attended by UKIP leader Nigel Farage, as well as senior party members and veterans from across the Black Country and Staffordshire.
But Dudley Council did not receive payment until six months later – following numerous phone calls, emails and two letters from the authority's debt collection agency.
UKIP's West Midlands MEP James Carver eventually stepped in to settle the bill.
It comes as it emerged that the party had struggled to raise funds since last year's General Election as donors instead spent their money on anti-EU campaigns.
UKIP has put the delay in paying the bill down to a series of administrative errors.
Bill Etheridge, a West Midlands MEP and UKIP councillor in Dudley, said: "There was a number of cock-ups with the paperwork so the bill wasn't paid on time.
"It was just a case of finding the right person in the party to pay it. They asked me to pay it several times but I said no as it was down to head office.
"We are only talking about a few hundred quid. It had nothing to do with us being on our uppers."
Mr Farage is set to appear at Wolverhampton's Dunstall Park on February 20 to deliver a talk on the case for Britain leaving the EU.
