The leader of the Liberal Democrats on Shropshire Council is demanding answers about why a £155,000 redundancy pay-off to a former Shirehall finance chief was left out of the authority’s accounts.

Councillor Nigel Hartin said he believed the failure to disclose the payment to the council’s former director of resources Laura Rowley in Shropshire Council’s Statement of Accounts last month could potentially leave the authority in an ‘embarrassing’ position.

He said he believed the accounts would have been accepted at a meeting last month when they were first presented to councillors despite containing ‘incorrect or at the very least incomplete’ information.

Lib Dem officials have also now contacted the Audit Commission for further details about why the details were left out of the accounts.

Mrs Rowley’s £155,831 pay-off has since been included in an online version of the council’s Statement of the Accounts. She quit her high-paid job in September last year and was reportedly unhappy over plans for big cuts among the council’s then 96 senior managers.

According to the council’s figures Mrs Rowley received a salary of £95,703 for her five months’ work during the 2010/11 financial year. The total amount she received, including pension contributions, in that year was £106,434 plus the pay-off.

Mrs Rowley is currently employed as treasurer for the States of Jersey – the parliament and government of Jersey.

Of the pay-off being initially left off the accounts, Councillor Hartin said: “This could potentially leave the council in an embarrassing situation having agreed incorrect or at the very least incomplete information at its last meeting.”

Councillor Chris Mellings, Liberal Democrat spokesman for performance and a member of Shropshire Council’s audit committee, said: “I have made contact with the Audit Commission who signed off our accounts requesting further details in the interests of transparency and accountability as to why this information was originally omitted from the accounts approved by council.

“It is also a concern that such items can be added to the accounts after approval without reporting back to councillors.”

Cheryl Williams, chief accountant at Shropshire Council, has previously claimed the authority was awaiting advice from the Audit Commission before the figure was published online on Friday.

She said it was clarified that the redundancy figure should be included meaning the final public version online included it.