The man who was in charge of Surrey County Council’s £1.4bn asset portfolio has been found dead in a smoke-filled car.

Tony Dunn, 65, a former member of Marlow Town Council and Wycombe District Council, died from smoke inhalation and burn injuries, a post-mortem examination has found, in a car left on a country road in Buckinghamshire on Saturday.

He was removed from his £72,000-a-year politically restricted job as head of asset management in July 2008, after the council discovered he was facing disciplinary action for writing to Wycombe councillors to persuade them to grant planning permission for a local property developer.

He neglected to mention that he worked for the developer as company secretary and that his brother was a consultant for the scheme.

He said at the time of his expulsion: “I don’t want people going around saying Tony Dunn is bent.”

Best friend and district councillor Doug Anson said: “Some comments that would come back to me used to make me a bit livid because I knew the true Tony Dunn.

“You couldn’t get a more genuine man.”

A Surrey County Council spokesman said: "We are deeply sad to hear of Tony's death in such tragic circumstances. Our thoughts and sympathies are with his family and friends."

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