A DISGRACED former councillor who asked for £10,000 in bribes to influence planning decisions has been jailed after a two month trial.

Suresh Kumar, of Eastern Avenue, Newbury Park, was found guilty of corruption at Southwark Crown Court on Monday (January 19), after it was found he demanded cash from two property developers to ensure planning permission was given to a block of flats.

However, the men contacted a national newspaper which arranged for secret filming to take place as as part of a sting on his corrupt practises.

The jury at Southwark Crown Court was shown video footage of Mr Kumar, 44, meeting the developers and saying that he could influence the council if he was paid.

He was sentenced to 12 months in prison and disqualified from holding a public office for five years.

In November 2004, Mr Kumar demanded the cash in exchange for which he said he would influence the council to give the go ahead for an apartment block in Green Lane, Goodmayes.

An early corruption trial collapsed in April 2008 after it emerged a translator, Baldev Sidhu, 62, had bought tickets from Mr Kumar travel company.

Punjabi-speaking translator Sidhu, of Portland Road, Birmingham, was jailed for eight months after being found guilty of lying under oath during the earlier trial.

Mr Kumar, who was a member of the Conservative group until he was suspended following media coverage of the allegations, was elected to Redbridge Council in 2003.

He later became a member of the regulatory committee, which seeks to resolve contentious planning disputes.

Mr Kumar stood for election again in 2006 as independent candidate, but without success.

He was cleared of a second count of corruption, which jurors could not reach a decision on a third.