Kent County Council has pulled the plug on a string of trading companies it had set up to try and make money for the authority - at a loss of £191,000.

The decision to wind up the companies comes after the county council decided none were commercially viable and some would have needed major investment to get them going.

Among the companies was one set up to sell cleaning products to hospitals and another offering patients in hospitals "essentials" packs such as toileteries.

Neither ever got off the ground.

Another company had been set up to sell merchandise such as gifts from an online library shop.

That did get under way, but trading was put on hold after questions were raised about the legality of some of its operations and an auditors' investigation into another business, Kent on Canvas.

Last year, an official involved in Kent On Canvas - an art-on-demand online business selling photgraphic images and prints of the county - was sacked for gross misconduct.

Auditors uncovered evidence a member of staff had misappropriated funds, failed to declare interests and misrepresented facts concerning ownership and directorship.

That company later became Kent Cultural Trading, with the five other businesses established as subsidiaries.

Cllr Mike Hill (Con) cabinet member for community services, said: "We have gone through an exhaustive exercise to assess whether it was worth pursuing and the answer was that it was not. They did have a good deal of promise [but] we will keep an open mind."

A report on the decision to dissolve the companies says Kent Cultural Trading Limited recorded a loss of £191,815 in 2013.