The list of Wandsworth councillors who have failed to pay their council tax on time has been revealed.

A freedom of information request submitted by the Wandsworth Times discovered that five current - and one former - councillors have been caught short on their payments at one point or another in the past five years.

The names include Labour councillors Kemi Akinola, Leonie Cooper and Maurice McLeod, while for the Conservatives the list featured Richard Field, Terence Walsh and former councillor Marie Hanson, although none of the six currently owe any money.

A spokesman for the council said: “Councillors are subject to exactly the same recovery procedures as any member of the public when it comes to payment of council tax.

"This includes reminders, summonses and liability orders if necessary.

"The information provided in the FOI response demonstrates this fact and that the recovery processes have the desired effect of ensuring all bills are paid.”

Mr Field was the best of the bunch, having only been sent one reminder for a payment of £98 in 2014. He put it down to a bank error where the payment failed to properly process. "As soon as I became aware I immediately settled the matter," he said.

But not everyone has been as prudent.

Mr McLeod and Ms Akinda were each elected into office this year, but have already missed two payments.

Ms Hanson, who has been contacted for comment and is no longer a councillor for Wandsworth failed to pay a staggering eight times over a three year stretch, culminating in a 2016 court summons where she owed £730.

As for Mr Walsh, his failings have been more spread out, with one missed payment of more than £300 appearing on the list for three of the past four years, with another for £63 added in 2014.

"I cannot comment precisely on each of the reminders that you list without looking at my old cheque book stubs as to dates," Mr Walsh said.

"I pay council tax by cheque, usually for the whole year, as one payment from April rather than in monthly instalments.

"This means that the council has the benefit of the payment in advance and which I assume with a saving on admin costs and more than offsets any delay on my part."

For Ms Cooper - who not only is a councillor but also the London Assembley Member for Merton and Wandsworth - she is the only councillor to miss at least one payment each year since 2014, with nine in total and a final reminder in 2015.

A Wandsworth Labour spokesman said: “All Wandsworth Labour councillors are up to date with their council tax payments.”