SALES of red diesel by harbourmasters in Aberdyfi, Barmouth and Porthmadog “cannot be depended upon” after an audit found that unnecessary duty was paid, some customers were charged the wrong price or given months’ worth of credit, and that cash wasn’t banked for over a month.

An audit of diesel sales at the three sites found that income at the trio of harbours “cannot be stated with certainty since the controls in place cannot be depended upon”.

The report said that there was a lack of “appropriate procedures to administrate and receive income from diesel expenditure”, and that steps need to be made to “alleviate the risks”.

“Controls have been established by the Maritime Service”, the report said, “but these controls need to be tightened”.

“Cases were seen at each of the harbours where the income collected had not been banked weekly as expected,” the report found.

“A delay of over a month was found at Barmouth Harbour and a delay of over three weeks at Porthmadog Harbour.

“It was seen that income from red diesel sales at the harbours, which at times included the additional duty of £0.4681, was directed to short code D ‘Diesel Sales’, which means that additional duty is treated as income including VAT.

“The additional duty does not include VAT.

“This means that five per cent of income collected in additional duty is unnecessarily paid to HM Revenue and Customs.

“Cases were seen at Barmouth and Porthmadog Harbours where correct fees had not been charged for diesel sales.”

While the report found that statements existed for all sales at the harbours, cases were seen at Barmouth and Porthmadog where customers had not always signed the statements.

One customer at Aberdyfi Harbour who received credit for diesel, had already racked debts for electricity and water, leading to the debt for diesel being written off, and at Barmouth Harbour, one customer had been given up to three months’ credit before paying the bill.

“This system affects the council’s cash flow,” the audit report said.

The harbours will move away from an invoice system once a card-paying system is introduced as planned.

From now on “red diesel will not be given unless payment is immediately received”, the report said.

The report calls to “ensure that a modern arrangement is in place before Easter 2017.”