A WHISTLEBLOWER was sacked after exposing the "flagrant" waste of millions of pounds at Devon County Council, an employment tribunal heard.

Steven Sitch, 59, of Cheriton Bishop, lost his £30,000-plus job as performance manager at the authority last year. He claims he was "got rid of with indecent haste" after blowing the whistle on unchecked authorisation of invoices to a property management company.

He told the tribunal in Exeter that he alerted his boss at the Business Transformation Unit (BTU) to payments to NPS South West Ltd being "blithely nodded through".

"I was being asked to sign off invoices based on timesheets containing inadequate detail, totalling £7.2 million a year," he said.

"I raised concerns that the council was in breach of contract by contracting with a company that to all intents and purposes was technically insolvent.

"It is very serious — we are talking about an arrangement of £105 million over 15 years."

NPS South West, a private limited company owned by Norfolk County Council, has offices on Capital Court, near Exeter's Sowton Industrial Estate.

It began a joint venture with the authority in April 2007 and employs 135 staff to manage the council's assets, providing property design, construction, maintenance services and estate management.

Mr Sitch, who moved to Devon three years ago after high-profile council positions in the South East, was appointed to manage the contract, and took up the post on a three-year contract in July 2008.

Representing himself, he said he soon became concerned about the council's financial dealings with NPS and reported this to BTU head Richard Buzzacott on September 1.

He said this constituted a public interest disclosure under the Employment Rights Act, and was the reason for his dismissal as a "troublemaker".

He claims that rather than heeding his concerns, Mr Buzzacott became "incandescent with rage". His attempt to highlight the issue, he said, led to him being "frozen out" and eventually prompted his dismissal the following April, for what the council called "unforeseen circumstances".

Mr Sitch brought the issue to the attention of the council's overview and scrutiny committee and wrote to Department for Communities and Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears.

He also alleged a council "cover up", saying crucial e-mails had "purposely and premeditatedly" been deleted from his account.

Devon County Council- appointed barrister Mark Williams described Mr Sitch's witness statement as a "tissue of lies" and said the alleged whistleblowing was part of his normal duties as performance manager.

The only reason he was dismissed was the wish of the previous performance manager to return early from secondment, said Mr Williams.

"It is impossible that this was orchestrated just to get rid of you," he said.

In response, Mr Sitch asked if he was "condoning the flagrant waste of public money".

On the tribunal's second day, Mr Buzzacott said he might have had a meeting with Mr Sitch, but did not recognise the discussion as whistleblowing.

Mr Sitch is suing the council for unfair dismissal. The hearing was adjourned.