AN investigation into the finances of an organisation that represents thousands of people has ruled out attempting to prosecute former leaders.

Auditors were called in to probe the accounts of the Southampton Tenants' and Residents' Federation after it was revealed that some federation expenditure was unaccounted for.

City council chiefs who ordered the investigation ruled that it was impossible to prove there had been wrongdoing.

As previously reported in the Daily Echo, about £2,000 was not properly accounted for over nine months from April last year.

Three executive members of the group's committee, who had been in the roles for about three years, did not put themselves forward for re-election in the wake of the inquiry.

The fourth executive member, its previous treasurer, resigned towards the end of last year.

Council chief financial officer Terry O'Rourke said they were powerless to take action against the former committee as the federation was independent of the council.

He told the Standards and Governance Committee they ruled out pressing for a police investigation because of the relatively small sums involved.

"Having established they are an independent organisation, the only people who can take this on further in case of action against individuals is the federation themselves or the police.

"Our past experience is that they (the police) would not have been concerned with the sums involved to take action."

He added that accounts for previous years had been properly kept.

The federation, which represents about 18,000 council tenants across the city, received about £30,000 in council grants in the previous financial year.

Its accounts revealed more than £14,000 was spent on childcare and carers' expenses, £3,000 on transport expenses while bills for mobile phones held by executive members totalled just under £5,000.

More than £3,000 of transport expenses, mainly on taxis, were also paid to the federation's executive at the time.

The council froze grants being handed over to the group after the discrepancies, which centred on missing receipts, were revealed.

Former chairman of the federation, Jayne Chainey, previously told the Daily Echo that the executive committee had "always" followed federation guidelines over how money should be spent.

She, along with vice-chairman Lance Vinter and secretary Julie Wright, did not put themselves forward for re-election at its last AGM, while its former treasurer Jane Brooks stood down last year.