Sixty parishioners face court for non-payment of rates

Up to 60 Vale parishioners risk being taken to court for failing to pay their rates, the Senior Constable has warned. More than £10,000 is owed by them and the Douzaine will take all legal steps to recover this money, Richard Leale said.

Despite receiving warnings, these householders still haven't paid and those defaulting are about to be taken to the Petty Debt Court, where they will face further costs as a result of the legal action.

The amounts owed to the parish range from £75 to more than 10 times that and Mr Leale urged the defaulters to pay or get in touch with the office.

'We have a duty to the thousands of other parishioners who do pay their rates on time to ensure that everyone else does too,' he said. 'We can't simply ignore this even if we wanted to.'

Last year, a total of 20 ratepayers were served with petty debts summonses but, this year, the number in arrears currently stands at 60. Mr Leale warned that they would not hesitate to enforce court judgments against defaulters.

• Petty Debt Court charges for those brought before it are an additional £57 per person or married couple or £114 if they are cohabiting. A further £120 is charged if a further appearance is required to enforce judgement. 'That's why we really do urge people to pay on time,' said Mr Leale.