ESSEX County Council is attempting to recover £100,000 that was paid to a company to build an app that appears to have never been made reports the Local Democracy Reporter.

TryLife Ltd received grant funding of more than £330,000 to create an app linked to behavioural change and produce videos for Essex County Council’s public health team.

Essex County Council says the money was unrelated to payments of nearly £1.5 million for the council’s social media “amplification” which started in 2018 before the pandemic.

County councillor Aidan McGurran raised the matter at full council when he asked leader Kevin Bentley for details of payments he said amounted to £333,500.

He added that one single payment was for £117,500 and another for £100,000.

He said: “Can he also give members an update on what measures the council has taken to recover £100,000 from TryLife Limited for a behavioural change asset in the form of a mobile app that was never delivered and whether any of this £100,000 has yet been recovered or is reasonably expected.”

A spokesperson for Essex County Council said: “TryLife Ltd received grant funding to create an app and produce videos for our public health team.

“This was unrelated to social media and did not meet the criteria of digital community engagement in the pandemic and therefore was not raised to senior officers in January.

“The app did not end up being delivered and the company is currently being pursued for a full return of the funds.”

TryLife was contacted for comment.