MORE than £1.2m has been recouped from residents in Oxfordshire who did not pay their council tax last year.

In 2017/18, South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils issued more than 5,000 court summonses to people who had repeatedly failed or refused to pay. Magistrates granted liability orders against almost 4,000 people, which meant enforcement action, including the use of bailiffs, could be taken to retrieve the money. Bailiffs recovered over £900,000, with most of those in arrears eventually paying the money they owed.

The councils took more extreme action against 64 people.

More than £140,000, plus costs, was recovered after 28 people received charging orders, which allowed the councils to enforce the sale of their property to retrieve the money.

The authorities also took committal to prison action against 36 people, with four receiving suspended prison sentences. This recovered almost £173,000.

A further £272,000 came from 80 people caught claiming discounts on their council tax that they were not entitled tom, which led to 10 prosecutions.

David Dodds, Cabinet member for finance at South Oxfordshire District Council said: “Council tax makes a substantial contribution to meeting the costs of our key public services, such as the social services, police, waste and recycling collections and road repairs."

Robert Sharp, Vale Cabinet member for Finance at Vale, added there was help available for those 'genuinely struggling' but that avoiding the problem was not a solution and urged people to contact their authority.