A court has ruled a councillor who twice voted on council tax matters while in arrears could not have known she was breaking the law.

Clr Jean Calvert, 58, has been found not guilty of two counts of breaking Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

The Labour Party Ashbrow ward member was cleared by District Judge Susan Bouch who accepted Clr Calvert’s defence that she was not aware of Section 106.

Clr Calvert, of Sheepridge Road, Sheepridge, stood trial at Bradford Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

She and her partner live in a band A property which makes them eligible for £934.31p in council tax, but £523 arrears from the previous year were carried over.

During the one-day hearing Clr Calvert admitted she had fallen into arrears after losing her job. In 2011 she took on extra work collecting census forms before she was offered a Kirklees Cabinet role.

She said bills had “piled up”, adding: “I suppose as a councillor you are so busy doing the day to day basics – the Cabinet work and things like that – your personal life gets put to one side.”

In November 2012, Clr Calvert used the council’s website to set up repayments and said she believed “everything had been done right”.

She said she had not been told of Section 106 during her 22 years as a Kirklees councillor.

David Smith, Kirklees director of resources, admitted the system could be seen to have “failed” Clr Calvert.

When Clr Calvert defaulted on her third payment it was 20 days before it was brought to the attention of the assistant director Jane Brady.

By then, the Budget Council meeting had been held and Clr Calvert had voted, unaware she was breaking the law.

Mrs Brady, assistant director for customer and exchequer services, said: “I saw four payments that were in place and the amount that was going to be cleared and felt assured that would be honoured and that the payment would be met.”

But Clr Calvert’s February direct debit had bounced.

When Mrs Brady was told about the failed direct debit she spoke with the council’s legal officer Vanessa Redfern, who advised that because the votes were not materially affected by Clr Calvert’s votes, no action was needed.

It was a newspaper Freedom of Information request in March which brought the matter to light. The council sought advice before the matter was reported to police.

Barrister Dan Pawson-Pounds described Clr Calvert as “trustworthy, honest and consistent”.

Clr Calvert said she had become aware of other council members having similar experiences. One of them, Clr Mohan Sokhal, revealed he had once fallen into arrears and was asked to pay it before attending a meeting to vote.

After the ruling Clr Calvert said in a statement: “I am delighted at the verdict and relieved to be cleared of any wrongdoing.

“I was confident I had acted in good faith all the way through.

“I wish it had not come as far as a trial, but I feel that justice has now been done.

“I don’t want to criticise any council officers who were involved in the case as they were acting to the best of their ability and training and doing what they believed was right at the time.

“I would like to thank the many people who have offered me support over the last year.”