Labour Party Councillor charged with fraud.

A Labour councillor in Staffordshire is to appear in court charged with benefit fraud.

Ian Hollinshead is accused of failing to register a change in his work circumstances for the purposes of his council tax and housing benefit.

Mr Hollinshead, who sits on both Stafford Borough and Staffordshire County Councils, has been suspended from his party.

He will appear at Stafford Magistrates' Court on 30 July.

A spokesman for the West Midlands Labour Party said Councillor Hollinshead had been "administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending the result of the court case".

He was elected to Stafford Borough Council in 2011 and to the county council in 2013.