A COUNCIL will recover over £78,000 worth of unpaid council tax following months of investigations.

Hyndburn Council has been looking into council tax fraud and found 193 residents had fraudulently claimed they were single occupants of their properties.

The nine month investigation by an specialist team set up within the council worked rigorously to prove some residents had made false claims to gain council tax reduction.

The team, which was set up in response to a national fraud initiative, compared the council tax reduction claim forms to the number of people registered on the electoral roll and found the council was owed a total of £78,200.

Coun Marlene Haworth, cabinet member for finance, said that the money was the most they had ever recovered as a result of council tax fraud.

She said this money would be reinvested throughout Hyndburn.

The 193 residents were interviewed and ordered to pay back the money, some of which dated back years.

Coun Haworth was confident they would get back all the money and said the council had a 98 per cent recovery success rate.

She said: “This is good news for the vast majority of honest council tax payers in the borough and bad news for those who think they can get away with being untruthful about their circumstances.

“This initiative is an ongoing one so people should be careful to make sure they give us the right information when they make the claim.

“Tough decisions we have had to make and tough decisions we have had to take.

“I would like to congratulate the team who have done an excellent job.”