A man who said he’d been unable to pay £3,500 in council tax arrears because of other debts was still able to enjoy luxury visits to Dubai.

Robert Clifford, from Chatham, has made multiple trips to the country, known for its luxurious high-rise hotels, beaches and shopping, over the years while failing to pay his council tax.

The 50-year-old businessman was in Dubai at New Year where he gave an eyewitness interview to The Telegraph following a massive fire at the five-star Address Downtown hotel.

He owes Medway Council £3,553.80 for a house in Chevening Close and is also being investigated by Maidstone Borough Council after not paying £1,012.46 for a property in The Street, Boxley where he lived last year.

Clifford previously appeared before magistrates in January 2012 and was given a 90-day suspended sentence for failing to pay council tax. But by January 2014, he still owed £1,113.85 and was summoned back to court.

He is now thought to live in Galena Close, Walderslade.

According to Companies House, Clifford is, or has been, the director of eight companies, some of which have been dissolved.

One of those, a business and domestic software development company, TimeIT Software (Distribution) Limited, was forced to close in 2014 after being declared insolvent.

Although he has not paid tax to Medway Council, that has not stopped him making use of its Innovation Centre in Chatham, where fledgling businesses are given a helping hand with cheap rent and support.

Two companies - IC3 Limited and AAA Intelligent Solutions, formerly Gulf British Trading Ltd - that list Clifford as a director are based at the Innovation Centre Medway.

Clifford has also been reported to the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) but no further action was taken at the request of the software publisher.

Clifford narrowly avoided being sent to prison after admitting culpable neglect in avoiding the payments to Medway Council.

As reported in last week’s Messenger, the charge indicates that rather than being unable to pay the priority debt, the offender instead spends the money on luxuries like expensive holidays.

By his own admission, he said he had prioritised other debts. Medway Magistrates’ Court gave Clifford a last chance to pay.

Medway Council had asked the court to imprison Clifford but instead magistrates gave him a 50-day suspended sentence, and ordered him to pay £3,858.80.

He will pay it back at £125 a month. A council spokesman said: “Medway Council applied to magistrates under Regulation 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 for Mr Clifford to be committed to prison for culpable neglect over his council tax arrears.

“The court decided that he had committed culpable neglect. The court postponed issuing the warrant to give him one last chance to pay those arrears.”

Clifford declined to comment when approached.