Man chased - literally - for unpaid council tax debts » Communities » 24dash.com

A middle-aged man from Ruddington was literally chased by Rushcliffe, its bailiffs and the police - before finally being stopped on Trent Bridge recently.

The man owed £1,400 in unpaid council tax - and after he broke various arrangements to pay the debt which he had agreed to do - time had run out.

The bailiffs were called in and tried to serve an arrest warrant on him at his home early one morning - but he literally squared up to them and ran off leaving his front door open.

He was a good runner and knew all the rabbit warrens between his home and Nottingham - so they lost him. The police were called - and they saw him and also gave chase - but lost him as they were in a car and he was running up and down alleys on foot.

Miraculously, the man called in to the Civic Centre to sort things out on the same day, but whilst waiting to see the Council's Recovery Officer he left the building and ran off again.

The same bailiffs were driving back from court and saw him on Trent Bridge about 30 minutes later, they slammed on their brakes and gave chase again. They subdued him after a brief altercation.

He gave in - and was brought handcuffed to the Council offices where he was interviewed and finally agreed to return to pay the next day.

Rushcliffe is known for being a top Council for value for money and had its best ever year last year for collecting council tax.

But, the Council is very sympathetic and makes every effort to help people who can’t pay by offering suitable arrangements. However, if people can afford to pay, but just won’t, they will be chased - hopefully not quite as literally as this.