The Sutton Guardian can exclusively reveal the council has paid out nearly £1.5m in compensation over the last four years.

Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request show Sutton Council’s annual payout to claimants every year since 2010.

The council is having to make cuts to shave £40m off its £152m annual budget, but the numbers show they are consistently paying out between £300,000 and £400,000 a year in compensation.

From 2010 to 2011 £317,115.11 was paid out, with the figure rising to £361,313.97 the following year.

From 2012 to 2013 the council had to pay £383,627.44, which fell to £378,153.04 for last year.

A Sutton Council spokesman said: “Each claim for compensation is investigated by the council’s insurance specialists along with the relevant teams involved.

"The council handles its claims in line with the Ministry of Justice guidelines and only provides compensation to claimants when legally liable to do so.

"We take these investigations extremely seriously and in the vast majority of cases the council is found to be not liable and no compensation is offered.”

The total amount the council have paid out since 2010 comes to £1,440,249.56.

The money would have been paid out to council staff and members of the public, for things such as personal injury claims and insurance claims on vehicle damage.

Have you been paid compensation by Sutton Council? What happened and how much did you receive? Call the news desk on 0208 722 6358, or email tom.gillespie@london.newsquest.co.uk