Andy Preston, the former mayor of Middlesbrough, is to appear in court later this month after being charged with failing to disclose financial interests to the council during his time as mayor.

The Teesside businessman, philanthropist, and politician is accused of failing to disclose the pecuniary interests of himself, or his partner, to the Middlesbrough Council’s monitoring officer within the lawful 28-day period after his election.

Read more: Former Middlesbrough Mayor responds to allegations of financial wrongdoing

Mr Preston also allegedly engaged in a discussion of, and/or a vote on, his financial interests during a meeting whilst in his role as Middlesbrough Mayor.

He is due to appear at Teesside Magistrates Court on Monday, August 21. If found guilty, he could face an unlimited fine.

A spokesperson for Cleveland Police said: “A 57-year-old man has been charged with four counts of non-disclosure of pecuniary interests in Executive meetings in contravention of S30(4) and 34(1)(b) and (3) of the Localism Act 2011.”

Mr Preston was in office from May 2019 to May 2023. Despite his historic support of the Labour Party, he stood as an independent candidate, beating Labour’s Mick Thompson by 17,418 votes to 6,693.

Get the latest news, sports, and entertainment delivered straight to your device by subscribing to The Northern Echo here. 

In the mayoral election held in 2023, Mr Preston lost to Chris Cooke, the Labour candidate, by a margin of 760 votes.

The Localism Act stated that: “Where a member or co-opted member of a relevant authority gives a notification for the purposes of subsection (1), the authority’s monitoring officer is to cause the interests notified to be entered in the authority’s register (whether or not they are disclosable pecuniary interests).

Read more: Scammer using Andy Preston's identity to fleece women out of money

“A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, the person participates in any discussion or vote in contravention of section 31.

“A person who is guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.”

The Northern Echo approached Mr Preston for comment but did not receive a response.