TNT - Post to blame for late tax bill

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Post-to-blame ... 6211813.jp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Town Hall bosses have been forced to delay chasing up money from Preston ratepayers after new council tax bills arrived just days before payments were due.

Taxpayers in some areas of the city were stunned to receive new demands for 2010/11 council tax just three working days before the first payment had to be made.

Preston Council bosses have blamed delivery firm TNT for some letters arriving more than 10 days late and said "senior level" discussions were taking place to resolve the "unacceptable" situation.

In the meantime, the council has promised to delay reminder letters to residents who fail to pay on time to make up for the gaffe.

Former journalist and printer Leslie Bleasdale, 54, from Fulwood, was one of the residents affected.

He complained to a local councillor and, while he is satisfied with the authority's quick response, he fears others will be affected by the mistake.

He said: "The bill was dated March 15 and arrived on the 26th. I live in Fulwood so it's taken 11 days for it to travel three miles and obviously the first payment was due on April 1 so that gave three working days to arrange the first payment.

"Obviously people on direct debit will be OK but there are a lot who are not. Last year's bill was dated the 16th and arrived on the 17th so that suggests something has changed."

Two days after complaining to a councillor, Mr Bleasdale received a letter from the council's revenues manager Andy Sumner, which said: "Whilst a slight delay can be expected, I note that in some postal areas bills have only been delivered over the last few days.

"The service the council has received from its delivery agents has been unacceptable on this occasion and the matter is currently being taken up with them at a senior level."

The letter goes on to say: "Scheduled reminders will be delayed until mid to late April to allow for queries resulting from this unforeseen delay to be resolved."

A spokesman for Preston Council said the problem was a "one-off."

He added: "The bills have now been delivered. Some went out on time and some didn't. There is no way of knowing which areas have been affected and how many people have been affected.

A spokesman for TNT said: "TNT Post is currently investigating this isolated incident which we believe affected a small number of residents in Preston. We are working with Preston Council to resolve this issue and TNT Post is committed to providing an efficient service and ensuring timely delivery of mail for all our customers."