Council forced to raise tax by eye-watering margin after granting prankster £500k to run its FB page

His job was to share information relating to government restrictions, support for vulnerable people and volunteering opportunities at vaccination centres.

At the height of the pandemic, it was claimed that the page had three to five million page impressions per month.

The well-known campaigner, who has previously raised thousands of pounds for charities, was chosen by the Conservative-run council because of his “expediency”.

He was given 34 separate payments over three years, totalling £493,000.

Essex County Council have now announced that they will be increasing council tax by 4.99 per cent to “protect and develop essential services”.

This margin is the highest allowed by the Government without holding a special referendum and will come into effect in April.

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The county council is also “reluctantly” making £32 million of cuts to services to help pay for a “spike in the requirements for children's services”.

A spokesperson for the council said the funding was allotted to Harris to establish social media groups and to run campaigns.

They said: “The engagement levels the council achieved through ECVA (Essex Coronavirus Action) and other social media channels managed by Simon Harris during the pandemic period were far in excess of what the council would usually have expected during a ‘normal’ period of operation.

“It is important to note the payments covered more than just social media content,and included activity to directly support others doing similar work across the county.

“Such payments were also made through Simon Harris for expediency.”

Following a backlash to the payments, Conservative MP and GB News presenter Lee Anderson said: “Is this the same Simon Harris who has been trolling me on social media for the past year? Sending my best wishes to Simon at this difficult time.”

Joe Ventre, digital campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Wasting taxpayers’ money like this is no laughing matter. While residents paid the price of the pandemic, the last thing they expected was their hard-earned cash to be spent lining the pockets of a comedian.

“Essex County Council owes it to local households to crack down on waste and focus funds on front-line services.”

Harris rose to prominence by starting the fake news website Southend News Network, as well as fundraising for charities.

He also led a prank campaign against GB News presenter Nigel Farage, which raised money for the Royal Lifeboat Institute, after Farage blamed the charity for helping migrants cross the Channel.

The new hovercraft was intended to be called “The Flying Farage”.