A TOP judge is set to decide if a councillor who was summonsed to court after not paying their council tax should be named.

It follows a three-hour hearing at a London court about whether the Bolton Labour representative, who was summonsed to court after twice defaulting on their council tax bills, is entitled to anonymity because of their circumstances at the time.

The Bolton News has asked three authorities to reveal the name and, now, the Upper Tier Tribunal is assessing if the public should be told who it is.

During the hearing, at Field House, The Bolton News's legal representative Anya Proops, argued that, because the councillor could have hypothetically been unable to vote on the council's budget, voters will never know if that councillor performed their duties unless they are named.

She added that an argument that the information was purely private was "completely absurd".

Ms Proops said that the MPs' expenses scandal had reminded public servants that they are operating under scrutiny and there was an even more compelling argument for removing anonymity in this case.

She said taxpayers might interpret the councillor as saying 'do as I say, not as I do' if they are deciding what council tax people should pay and not paying it themselves.

The court heard that the council put the councillor's name in the public domain when it appeared on court records only to remove it when the matter was settled.

Ms Proops said: "It seems wholly arbitrary and capricious to argue that, just because The Bolton News did not see that court record at the time, the public should never see it. It was merely fortuitous."

The Information Commissioner's Office was one of the organisations to rule the official was entitled to privacy.

Its legal representative Robin Hopkins told the court that the decision has been made due to the compelling nature of the individual's personal circumstances.

He added: "Without those circumstances, the original decision may have gone the other way."

Mr Hopkins said that, in effect, the original decision was that the councillor "deserved to be cut some slack and spared the consequences" of being named.

The Bolton News' investigation revealed that the councillor was summonsed to court for not paying £936 in council tax between May 2011 and April 2012 and for not paying £1,039.89 in council tax between May 2012 and April 2013.

Both summonses were withdrawn after the councillor entered into a payment plan with Bolton Council.

At the end of the hearing, Judge Kate Markus QC said she would make her decision in due course.

In a link to the case, Bolton Conservative Cllr Mudasir Dean admitted to The Bolton News in August 2014 that he was also summonsed to court for non-payment of council tax.

He apologised for the error.

Police investigated the matter because Cllr Dean voted on the budget.

But officers decided there was no evidence of wrongdoing, because of the payment plan.