76210-43This week the council agreed savings of £10m. But to prove they do look after their cash they've sent Louise Hall a tax bill for... you guessed it... 1p. LOUISE Hill could not believe it when she opened her council tax bill and found she had been charged a penny.

The hospital safety consultant has now criticised the council for wasting resources while they continue to make cuts in spending.

Mrs Hill, of Haydon Wick, received a council tax bill for £33.16 on a second home she owns last December but it was money she did not owe.

She wrote to the council three times to highlight their mistake but her complaints fell on deaf ears. Finally she calculated how much she actually owed herself and sent a cheque in January for what she thought was the correct amount.

Unfortunately she rounded it down to £21.31 instead of up to £21.32 meaning she was still 1p in the red.

Mrs Hill said: "How much did it cost to pump out the bill for a penny? If I pay it, it will cost me more than a penny.

"They must have spent quite a lot of money handling it. I wrote to them but they just don't listen. They don't take any notice of what people say.

"The council whine about not having enough money but then they waste it like this.

"I just don't know what they're playing at. It makes me angry that the criminally high taxes are frittered in pointless, protracted correspondence, court costs, billing and staff time.

"It's bureaucratic nonsense. They need someone to go in there and sort out their system then maybe they would have the money to get rid of graffiti and sort out the town centre."

The one penny bill, which arrived earlier this month, comes after Mrs Hill was mistakenly summoned to court and fined £50 for council tax payments she had already made.

In December 2003 Mrs Hill sent a cheque for her council tax and the money was withdrawn from her bank account. The council however claimed it had not been paid and took her to court.

Mrs Hill said: "I knew I had paid so I had no intention of going to court."

Upon realising their mistake the council wrote to Mrs Hill apologising for their error.

Mrs Hill said: "The told me they had found my money after 11 months. It's just ridiculous."

Swindon Council spokeswoman Hellen Barnes said: "This lady was sent a reminder on September 23 regarding payment of council tax for August and a cheque was received at the end of September in payment for both August and September council tax.

"On the October 4 we received a letter from her saying that she had already paid her council tax for August and we replied saying that we had now received this."

"At a second property she was also sent a letter in error saying that she owes one pence. This was a hiccup in the software and we apologise for this."

Gareth Bethell