People living in St Albans have the opportunity to question the council's spending from over the past year.

A first draft of the accounts of St Albans District Council for the year ended March 31 this year and will be published early next month.

It can be viewed on the council's website.

There will be details of the council's spending over the 2019/20 financial year as well as the income it has received from its various services and funding sources.

A team of external auditors from the professional services firm BDO will examine them in the summer.

Those in the district will be able to scrutinise and raise questions with the auditors.

Chair of the audit, Cllr Julian Daly said: "The council is a public body which provides a range of important public services across the district, so it's important that its finances are rigorously checked.

"With the Covid-19 pandemic having a severe impact on the council's finances, detailed scrutiny of the accounts will be more important than ever."

Councillors on the council's audit committee will meet informally on September 29 to review the draft and take into account any points raised by the public.

The accounts will then be finalised before an audit committee meeting on October 15 where members will vote on whether to approve them.

The council said to meet a Government deadline, the final version of the annual accounts will be published by November 30.

Cllr Daly added: "This process is conducted in a transparent way to maintain the confidence and trust of our residents.

"I urge anyone with an interest in local affairs to take a look at the draft accounts and also to voice any concerns or issues they may have."