Senior councillor Graham Murphy appeared at Peterborough County Court in a private hearing to recover more than £1,000 in unpaid rent brought by city-based housing association Cross Keys Homes, on whose board Cllr Murphy once sat on behalf of the council.

During the hearing on Tuesday before Deputy District Judge Proctor, an agreement to repay the arrears was reached between the association and Cllr Murphy, who rents his current home in Crowland Road, Eye.

Most rent repossesion cases are dealt with in private at county court.

Cross Keys Homes refused to give details of the amount of rent outstanding but stated that court action is triggered once 12 weeks rent is owing.

Afterwards, Cllr Murphy, who was the council's cabinet member for housing, regeneration and economic development between May last year and May this year, and who represented the local authority on the Cross Keys Homes board between July 2002 and June 2008, said he had no plans to resign as a councillor following the court action.

And he gave a heartfelt account of how he had found himself struggling
to cope with the rent payments after he lost his cabinet job in a reshuffle of top political posts after Cllr Marco Cereste was elected as the new leader of the ruling Conservative group in May this year.

Figures released by the city council show he claimed £21,313.59 in allowances for the period April 1, 2008 to March 31, this year, of which £13,701.63 was for special responsibility allowances.

Councillor Murphy told the ET he also lost a furher £8,000 when the cabinet reshuffle also meant he lost his role onthe fire authority.

Cllr Murphy, who was elected as a Conservative councillor for the Orton Longueville ward in May 2002, said: "It was my full-time job. I dedicated myself to the job I was doing.

"Managing the loss of my job and being a single parent is difficult. I basically went from £30,000 to £7,000.

"I was far too proud, until September, to claim any benefits. I owed in the region of £1,000. I am like anyone else; I have financial troubles."

He said a court judgement about repaying the rent had been reached he was now keen to move forward with his life.

Cllr Murphy added: "None of this happened until after I lost my job and I didn't lose my job for doing it badly.

"But I'm not the only person on this council who has suffered financially or even today suffers financially."

Cllr Murphy said he was still looking for work but was finding it tough in the run-up to Christmas.

And he made a plea for understanding of his plight, saying: "I hope people see I am human and I don't walk around in an ivory tower. I'm one of the general public.

"I fell into problems, I dealt with it and am now moving forward."

A spokesperson for Cross Keys Homes said such court action was triggered after 12 weeks of non-payment of rent.

Cross Keys Homes' director of operations, Claire Higgins, said: "Cross Keys Homes will ensure Graham keeps to the agreement he has made with the courts to pay his rent and continue to offer him every assistance we can to do this as we do with all our tenants.

"It is not in his or his family's interests for the rent to continue to be unpaid and him possibly losing his family home if he doesn't."

Cllr Murphy was among several former senior Conservative group members dropped after Cllr Cereste became leader.

The move sparked a bitter row and was behind Cllr Murphy and Cllr Stephen Goldspink's decision to defect to the English Democrats last month.

Cllr Murphy's former conservative colleague and friend Cllr David Sanders said he would have "squared his debt" if he had known.

He said: "I'm not condoning what he did, but if he had told me, I would have sorted it out. He's too proud. It's the mark of the man that he has taken it on his shoulders."

A council spokeswoman said: "This matter is between councillor Murphy and Cross Keys Homes as the housing provider and does not affect councillor Murphy's ability to carry out his duties as a councillor."