Twin towners in Borehamwood and Elstree plan to bounce back after suffering their own "annus horribilis".

Last year a former Borehamwood and Elstree Twin Town Association (BETTA) treasurer, Bob Brook, said he was worried some of the association's funds were being used inappropriately, and an auditor was brought in to check the accounts.

At BETTA's annual general meeting recently the auditor's report was published. BETTA chairman Jean Heywood said: "There was never anything wrong with our accounts."

The association had money in the bank and a new £3,000 grant provided by Hertsmere Borough Council.

Hertsmere Council, which part-funds BETTA, paid £2,500 for the audit to be carried out.

But former BETTA secretary Harvey De Friend was said to have made some errors of judgement last year, when he organised a football tournament in Borehamwood and offered to pay for teams to be brought over from France and Germany.

Mrs Heywood said Mr De Friend had miscalculated the cost of bringing 40 football teams to Borehamwood. He thought it would cost £500, but the actual cost would have been £2,500.

The association did not know the trip had been organised until a member of Offenberg's twin town association rang Mrs Heywood to complain his coach tickets had not been sent, she said.

Mr De Friend has been left with the cost of paying back most of the costs incurred when the trip was cancelled, and BETTA has asked him to pay back £231 he had spent buying new uniforms for the Borehamwood Majorettes, without BETTA's permission. The association has agreed to cover a £500 deposit Mr De Friend had paid for accommodation for the teams.

The association plans to organise trips to France and Germany, and build a sculpture in Borehamwood to celebrate the town's links to Europe.

"We are talking about doing something big, that would show the towns merging together," said Mrs Heywood.

She now hopes to meet the headteacher at Hertswood School, Ian Lucas, to discuss pupils getting involved in building the sculpture, and also plans to talk to Hertsmere Borough Council about having the sculpture placed outside the Civic Offices in Elstree Way.

May 7, 2003 16:00