A council tax mix-up lands grandad in court

4:12pm Wednesday 12th July 2006

A GRANDFATHER was taken to court for non payment of council tax after a bill was issued in his name for a property he had not owned for eight years.

Warehouse manager George Edwards, aged 54, of Wright Street, Horwich, was summoned to appear at Bolton Magistrates Court on June 22.

The council claimed he had not paid council tax on a property in Chorley New Road, Horwich, between December 2005 and March 2006.

And despite the fact Mr Edwards told them he left the property in 1998, they still pressed ahead with the case.

Mr Edwards, who suffers from a serious heart condition, said: "When I received the summons, I contacted Horwich Town Hall immediately to explain that it must be a mix up, but I was told as far as the council was concerned I owed them the money and there was nothing they could do to stop the legal proceedings.

"I then had to wait a month for the matter to appear before the magistrates. I was eventually awarded £200 costs but I could have done without the stress and anxiety of the whole thing."

It later transpired that Mr Edwards had been wrongly listed at the council as the owner of the Chorley New Road property and a bill had been automatically issued in his name. He has been paying council tax at his present address.

A Bolton Council spokesman said: "We have already apologised to Mr Edwards who was wrongly listed as the owner of the Chorley New Road property.

"Because of this, the system picked up his name and automatically issued a bill. The charge has now been cancelled and the records updated."