INCOMPLETE and non-existent record-keeping within Poole's corridors of power during its dealings with Orb Estates have been damned by investigators.

The spectre of the failed multi-million pound Orb empire continues to haunt Poole council with the borough today expected to reveal the outcome of its bid to secure compensation cash relating to the Dolphin Quays apartments.

This latest twist in the Orb saga comes only days after an Audit Commission report criticised the council for a lack of record-keeping during dealings with the company.

Investigators trying to unravel the trail of decisions made between the authority and a multitude of Orb-linked companies reported they were hampered by a lack of documentation at the Civic Centre.

And the criticism mirrors the council's admissions about mistakes and inadequate record-keeping when reclaimed sand was being dumped on Shore Road beach shortly before asbestos was discovered there last January.

Lew Wood, of the Alliance of Residents' Associations, which was instrumental in starting the investigation, said the Audit Commission report vindicated the Alliance's concerns.

"The commission made serious comments about record-keeping - records that it can't find or have been lost or destroyed," he said.

Council chief executive John McBride believes the authority needed to keep some negotiations secret, but admitted: "We accept that we are a public body and did not have a record of all our dealings."

The Audit Commission has recommended a plan of action for the council to improve its documentation and record-keeping.

Today Mr McBride is due to reveal the outcome of mediation talks over the Dolphin Quays complex, which was started by Orb Estates but did not reach completion before the Orb failure in 2003.

It is alleged the complex, which replaced the Poole Pottery quayside factory, has been built one-metre beyond agreed limits.

The dispute relates to claims the building foundations and overhanging balconies encroach on to council-owned land.

Mediation talks were last week held with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the receivers of the Dolphin Quays project following Orb's collapse, and an agreed statement on the outcome is due this morning.

See today's Echo for an in depth look at the Orb saga

First published: Oct 11