A local council has extended a huge loan to billionaire Matt Moulding, the founder and boss of beleaguered online retailer The Hut Group. Labour-controlled Warrington council agreed earlier this month to lend another £18million to private company Moulding Capital Limited. It was one of a series of loans worth a total of £200million made to the businessman making him the council’s largest single credit exposure. Council documents seen by The Mail on Sunday say the new loan is ‘fully secured… against a portfolio of real estate assets’. It is not known what the loan is being used for. A spokesman added that the council considered Moulding Capital Limited to be ‘a good credit risk’.