A 61-year-old man has failed to overturn a bankruptcy order after refusing to pay his council tax for more than nine years.

The Chorley man, who has not been named, was declared bankrupt in 2009 despite having the funds to pay off the £7,500 debt.

Chorley Council said it had tried to collect the money on a number of occasions without success and as a result took court action.

On March 24, 2009 Preston Crown Court declared the man bankrupt in order to recover the debt.

But the 61-year-old applied to have the bankruptcy annulled on April 23, 2010.

The court dismissed his application and the Official Receiver will now look to recover the debt and the council’s legal costs from the debtor’s estate.

The council said prosecution was used as a last resort against someone who deliberately chose not to pay. Councillor Kevin Joyce, Chorley Council’s executive member for resources, said: “Everyone has to pay their council tax and the vast majority of people do.

“We are very proud that we have such a high collection rate of 98.4 per cent for the past two years. It is not fair on those that do pay when someone chooses not to pay despite having the money to be able to do so.

“We will only apply for bankruptcy for people who deliberately refuse to pay their council tax and even then only when all other attempts to collect the money have failed.

“We would not pursue anyone who has genuine difficulties and tries to sort it out.

“We would urge anyone who genuinely can’t afford to pay to contact us and we will help in any way we can, including making arrangements to pay and seeing if the amount can be reduced in benefits, discounts or reliefs.

“We always prefer to come to an amicable arrangement rather than take enforcement action which can add considerable costs to the original debt.”