A CHARITY employee at the heart of a voting fraud scandal quit following the launch of an investigation, it has been confirmed.

Enham Trust says the member of staff resigned with “immediate effect” shortly after the probe began.

The investigation was launched by the disability charity in January after the Advertiser put forward allegations, made be a former Enham employee, about a potential voting fraud in the 2016 Marks and Spencer Energy's Community Energy Fund competition.

The ex-employee, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed they witnessed a member of staff using marketing data to fraudulently enter hundreds of fake votes in the UK wide competition.

Enham Trust was awarded £12,500 by the High Street giant after its entry was chosen in the “Judge’s Choice” category.

However, as exclusively revealed by the Advertiser earlier this year, the charity was later stripped of the prize money following an investigation by Marks and Spencer.

Enham's chairman of trustees, professor Khalid Aziz, unreservedly apologised at the time and condemned the actions of an “overzealous and misguided”member of staff.

Enham Trust also launched an investigation, which it now says has been completed.

The trust said it found around 750 votes were fabricated in the competition.

It also concluded the decision to use the email addresses, without the consent of the account owners, was the action of “one individual acting in breach of guidelines”.

The charity added that the individual who instigated the use of the emails decided to resign with “immediate effect” following the launch of the probe.

A spokesperson for Enham Trust said: “Clear lessons have been learned from this regrettable incident.

“All staff are being made aware of the outcome of the inquiry and steps have already been taken to minimise the chance of such an action happening again.”

One person to comment on the conclusion of the investigation is the former employee who brought the scandal to the Advertiser’s attention.

The ex-staff member said: “While I am disappointed I was never contacted to provide evidence, I am glad the individual responsible for instigating it has resigned, for their unethical and, frankly, unforgivable behaviour.

“I hope the organisation truly learns from this and acts faster and communicates more effectively when employees raise these concerns in the first place.

“It is regrettable the inefficient handling of this situation at its earliest stage has led to a damaged reputation for a charity that supports such wonderful clients.”

But the episode may not be over yet for Enham.

A Charity Commission spokesman said: “The commission is currently considering whether the steps taken by the charity’s trustees resolve our concerns or whether there is a need for further regulatory action.”