The Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry into a Leicestershire based community football amid concerns around its financial management.

Lutterworth Athletic Football registered as a charity nine years ago however in 2024 it entered the regulator’s double defaulter class inquiry after it failed to submit its accounts for the previous two years.

During this inquiry accounts for these two years were submitted however it defaulted again on its accounts for the year ending 2024, which remain “significantly overdue”.

The regulator’s probe into the charity has now been escalated to a statutory inquiry after analysis of its bank details “identified a number of additional concerns”.

Trustees’ compliance with their legal and financial reporting duties will be investigated. The regulator will also look to see if any unauthorised private benefit to the trustees or connected parties has taken place.

Whether conflicts of interest have been properly managed will also be looked at.

The last submitted financial information from the charity, for the year ending July 2023, showed that its income was £1.3m, however it spent £1.4m over this period.

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