A council has spent tens of thousands of pounds on campaigns against Heathrow Airport - including a failed high court challenge.

Back Heathrow put in a Freedom of Information Request in a bid to disclose council spending against the Heathrow expansion.

The report received in response revealed the then Conservative-led council of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead spent £43,531.93 on anti-Heathrow expansion campaigning from April 2020.

In a breakdown, this includes £33,333.33 spent between April 2021 to March 31, 2022, which went towards the failed legal challenge in the High Court.

A further £10,198.60 was spent on various other fees between April 2020 and March 31, 2021, including £5,567.60 in solicitors’ fees paid to two other councils; the London Borough of Hillingdon and curiously, Dudley Metropolitan Council in the West Midlands.

In the same time period the council amassed a total debt of £206million.

As of May 5, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead council is now run by the Liberal Democrats, with the Conservative party seeing a landslide defeat.

Executive Director of Back Heathrow, Parmjit Dhanda, said: “With a council as financially fragile as Windsor and Maidenhead, it’s astonishing such an eye-watering amount of residents’ money was being spent on fighting expansion at Heathrow.

“Residents want the council to spend money on local services, not wasting money on campaigns.”

Local Windsor and Maidenhead resident, Mewa Mann said: “Considering the shaky finances of the borough, I can’t believe the previous Tory-led council has flushed over £40,000 of taxpayers’ money down the drain.

“As a supporter of the airport, it’s great to see how many jobs and tourists the Borough gets from its proximity to Heathrow. Opposing the growth of the borough’s biggest employer whilst failing to fix potholes, shows the council had its priorities all wrong.”

Back Heathrow is a community group with over 100,000 supporters, including businesses, employees, unions, and residents. Over 50 per cent of Back Heathrow’s supporters live within 5 miles of the airport.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead were approached for comment.