I received today 20-3-03 my council tax bill for 2003-2004. At band B, my bill is £904, only it isn't as due to the fact that there is a three-month backlog of paperwork at the council in Chippenham, they still have me as being on benefits, even though I'd phoned to notify them I'd returned to work in December and again in January when I received a notification of entitlement. They now expect me to pay the arrears I owe them through their inept management of resources.

Why are we being asked to pay more for a service that is surely not working efficiently? If they were in the private sector, they'd have been hit with penalty clauses, re-organised or even sacked by now rather than let it get three months behind.

Andrew Whitaker,

Dummer Way,

Chippenham.